The controversial replacement and expansion of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline will be delayed by about a year, as the Minnesota permit process will take longer than expected, announced the Alberta company this week -end.

The project, which was scheduled to begin shipping crude oil by the end of 2019, is now expected to enter service in the second half of 2020, Enbridge said in a statement last Friday. Construction is delayed because the Minnesota permitting process will not be complete until November and the resulting federal permits will only be received 60 days later.

"We now have a firm calendar of state on the remaining license schedule for our Line 3 Replacement Project," said Enbridge CEO, Al Monaco, in the press release. "We support a robust and transparent licensing process that includes an opportunity for public participation. We will continue to work closely with government officials during this process. "

Last June, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved the $ 2.6 billion pipeline, which replaces the aging and corroded Enbridge Line 3. However, Enbridge still needs other, more technical, state permits, mainly from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Natural Resources. . He also needs a key water crossing license from the Army Corps of the Army.

At the same time, environmental groups, two Indian tribes and the State Department of Commerce have all appealed to the court to overturn the PUC decision. Governor Tim Walz said he will continue the state's call, launched last year by his predecessor, Mark Dayton.

Enbridge said the new 330 mile pipeline would be a much needed security upgrade over the current line 3, which corrodes and only works at 51% of its capacity for reasons of security. The new pipeline would restore full oil flow to 760,000 barrels a day.

Opponents of a new Line 3 said it would exacerbate climate change and – since the pipeline would partially follow a new route – open up a new region of lakes, rivers and wild rice fields to the degradation of oil spills. .

The replacement of Line 3 would be one of Minnesota's largest construction projects in recent years, employing at least 4,000 construction workers, according to the company.

According to Bloomberg News, this delay is an overwhelming setback for Canadian oil producers, who have suffered from the lack of space for pipelines, which has made it difficult for them to ship their crude oil to refineries, which is why dropped prices. Enbridge's Line 3 is particularly important because the oil-rich Alberta government was counting on its commissioning this year to end the mandatory production cuts put in place to deal with an overabundance of oil. gross.

Delaying the expansion of Line 3, which would add 370,000 barrels of daily shipping capacity, is the latest in a series of canceled or stranded projects that have affected the Canadian energy industry. Keystone XL from TransCanada Corp. has been on the drawing board for over a decade while the environment and the owners have been opposed. Trans Mountain's expansion, which the Canadian government bought from Kinder Morgan Inc. to prevent it from being canceled, was stalled over legal issues.

The industry has also been affected in recent years by the cancellation of TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline and the Canadian government's rejection of Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

Bloomberg News and editor Mike Hughlett contributed to this report.