Canada’s oil sands producers may find welcome relief to years of pipeline capacity constraints when the first new pipeline in years could enter into service as early as next month.

Enbridge said in a filing with the Canada Energy Regulator last week that its Line 3 replacement program in the United States “could be completed within the next 30 to 60 days which will allow the Line 3 replacement pipeline to commence service as early as September 15, 2021.”

Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project will replace the existing 34-inch pipe with new 36-inch pipe for 13 miles in North Dakota, 337 miles in Minnesota, and 14 miles in Wisconsin. The average annual capacity of Line 3 after replacement is planned to be 760,000 barrels per day (bpd), which would be a capacity increase of 370,000 bpd compared to the capacity of the original Line 3.

The Line 3 replacement is already in service in Canada, but it is not yet operational in the United States. Construction of the new Line 3 in Minnesota started…read more.