$34B Trans Mountain expansion pipeline begins filling with oil with first shipments before Canada Day

The odyssey of developing and building the Trans Mountain expansion project in Western Canada is finally nearing the finishing line as sections of the pipeline begin filling with oil.

The first export shipment will happen before Canada Day, the federal Crown corporation said, although Alberta's premier expects it could become operational as soon as May.

The Trans Mountain is Canada's only oil pipeline to the West Coast. The project will transport oil from Alberta to the West Coast and triple the amount of crude that is shipped on an existing pipeline, from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 bpd.

Canadian oil prices are expected to increase once the new project is completed. Court challenges, regulatory hurdles, multiple protests and constant delays are all part of the history of the project, which began more than a decade ago.

Then there's the cost.

When the federal government stepped in to purchase the project six years ago and rescue it from life support, the estimated price tag was $7.4 billion. Today, expenses are $34 billion.

On stage Wednesday at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Trans Mountain chief financial officer Mark Maki used a bit of humour when describing the project's past, knowing full well how eye-popping the cost escalation and multiple setbacks have been for Canadian taxpayers and the industry alike.

"I reflect on some lyrics from a Grateful Dead song: 'What a long, strange trip it's been.' Twelve years from beginning to in-service. That's too long," he said, drawing laughter from the crowd, before he proceeded to list the many challenges such as the regulatory process, the pandemic, floods and wildfires.

Currently, less than 25 per cent of the pipeline is filled with oil, said Maki, in sections of where construction took place several years ago.

He suggests there should be a post-construction cost review to see what lessons can be learned about developing large-scale projects in Canada.

"It is expensive to do the project right. That's what it costs to build infrastructure," he said, in an interview with CBC News in Houston.

Pipelines cross long distances, and can impact several Indigenous communities and develop previously untouched land.

"For all those reasons, we have to understand better, whoever you are, what it really is going to cost to build infrastructure."

The final price tag, he said, could still change as remaining work is completed. The company has said it will need approximately three months following the completion of construction before it can provide a definitive cost estimate.