Pipeline shutdown a 'manageable inconvenience' for Manitoba, not a disaster: supply chain expert

The Manitoba government says fuel trucks have been dispatched to Winnipeg from southern Manitoba after Imperial Oil shut down a pipeline over the weekend — a move one expert says will cause a "manageable inconvenience," but was the right thing to do.

Imperial announced over the weekend that the line was shut down after an inspection raised concerns about a section of the pipe just south of St. Adolphe, Man.

Since there are no refineries in the province, the Winnipeg Products Pipeline delivers refined petroleum products from the Enbridge Mainline at Gretna, Man. — near the U.S. border — to Winnipeg.

It transports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to supply customers in the greater Winnipeg region. 

"Today I've confirmed that fuel trucks are already on their way to Winnipeg from Gretna," said Jamie Moses, the province's minister for economic development and natural resources, during question period at the legislature Tuesday. 

"The Manitoba government has taken several steps to lean on suppliers to maintain gasoline supply and to ensure the maintenance work is being done quickly and safely," he said, including working with Imperial and suppliers on delivering fuel by rail and truck.

Keri Scobie, a spokesperson for Imperial Oil, told CBC the issue with the pipeline was caught during a routine inspection by the company earlier this year, but did not say exactly when.

"We identified that there was some strain on the pipeline as it was crossing the Red River just South of St. Adolphe, which we believe is caused by ground movement on the riverbank," Scobie said.

There were "natural things happening that were impacting the pipeline" and "we felt it was the right time to do some maintenance," she said, describing it as a proactive decision to ensure the line's integrity.

That involves replacing a section of the pipeline that runs under the Red River, south of Winnipeg.

The company did not disclose the length of the section that is being replaced.

Inspections are done "several times a year," and no previous repairs have been done on this section of the pipeline, Scobie told CBC.

"We've got such a rigorous kind of inspection protocol that we do repair work, maintenance work, all of those kinds of things on a regular basis on our pipelines."

'Doing the right maintenance': Imperial

Two lines, running parallel to each other, have been shut down. The original 10-inch (25-centimetre) line was built in 1950 and an eight-inch (20-centimetre) line was built in 1974, according to the province.

The typical service life of an operational energy pipeline is up to 50 to 70 years, according to a paper published on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' website. "Existing lines would subsequently be decommissioned and replaced with new lines," the paper says.

However, Imperial Oil said because of continuous inspections, maintenance and repairs,"there is no kind of end [of life]" for a pipeline.

"It's not like these are archaic things.… There's no point where it's just too old and the whole thing needs to be replaced," Scobie said.

"You just keep updating it, you're inspecting it, you're doing the right maintenance, you're making sure the integrity is there."

The affected portion of the pipeline is provincially regulated and overseen by the department of Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources, according to a government spokesperson.

The lines are inspected at least once per year "and occasionally twice," with the last provincial inspection of the affected lines in the fall of 2023, the spokesperson said.

Robert Parsons, a sessional instructor with the department of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba's Asper School of Business, said the shutdown "shows that the system is working."

"They are monitoring, they see an issue … so the system is working the way it's supposed to," Parsons said. "They've done the right thing."

Shutting the line down for preventative repairs will help ensure any issues don't get worse and cause more serious problems, said Parsons.

"It's not that there's a leak or anything, it's that they are concerned about it. Being concerned and being proactive is really important in this, because we do not want or need a leak of this kind of material."

Manitoba depends on pipelines, which are a piece of infrastructure that needs attention, he said.

"Particularly for petroleum infrastructure, they're going to get more and more costly as we go on. We're still going to need them for quite a while … and we have to take care of them," he said.

'Not a disaster': expert

Imperial Oil would not say what the pipeline's capacity is or how much fuel is distributed from it on a daily or weekly basis, stating that the information is proprietary.

On Monday, Manitoba's premier told reporters the goal is to bring in around 12,000 barrels of gasoline a day via truck and train to ensure there's a continuous supply during the shutdown.

"These are some of the biggest companies in the world, and so we're leaning on them to come up with the supply," Wab Kinew told reporters Monday.

Kinew said Winnipeg had one to two weeks worth of fuel, and that he hopes to have the backup supply in the city before then.

Parsons said 12,000 barrels of gasoline equates to around two million litres a day.

"It is not a disaster. It is an inconvenience, and I think that is the critical thing," he said. "It is a manageable inconvenience."

While Parsons said there is no need to panic about shortages, people should be careful not to waste gas and should consider using public transit when possible.

"This is not panicky stuff when you're doing this," he said. "I believe Manitobans are sensible people."

He urged Manitobans not to stockpile gas like they did toilet paper at the start of the pandemic — that's not only unnecessary, but incredibly dangerous, since gasoline is "very volatile," he said.

But the longer the shutdown goes on, the more likely drivers are to see an impact on prices at the pump, he said.

On Tuesday, the Opposition Progressive Conservatives encouraged the premier to automatically extend the NDP government's temporary suspension of the provincial gas tax, which is set to expire in a few months.

While he would not commit to it, Kinew said he would consider it.