Monday, April 19, 2021

Pembina 101 -- Watson Island shipment terminal is Now Open for Business

The Pembina LPG Terminal is Open for Operations
with the Virtual Grand Opening taking place last Monday 
(Screenshot from Pembina Video)

With the official opening of the new Pembina LPG shipment terminal at Watson Island, officials from the company have shared a bit more information on their newest piece of corporate infrastructure. 

Providing through their website a snapshot of the 250 million dollar investment on the North Coast.

Located on Watson Island in the vicinity of Prince Rupert, B.C., the facility is best viewed as a small-scale rail terminal, moving LPG from rail cars to vessels destined for international markets. There is no on-site processing or refrigeration, and the terminal is limited to handling and storage.

The facility is comprised of approximately 5 kilometres of new rail ladder tracks and three above-ground propane storage spheres. Propane is offloaded and stored at the rail terminal following delivery by CN via its existing rail lines. The terminal is expected to operate at 20,000 barrels per day with a capacity of 25,000 barrels per day. 

Propane is the only product that Pembina plans to handle at the facility. The propane is extracted off site from natural gas supply in northern BC and Alberta and will be transported from our Redwater Complex northeast of Edmonton to Prince Rupert by rail.

The updated information on the status of the industrial site comes as Pembina received its first vessel last week at Watson Island for the shipment of LPG to global markets, with the Italian vessel Pertusola going into the maritime history books for first port calls at the facility.

The second port call for the new facility is underway with the Italian. vessel Marigola currently alongside the dock at the Pembina facility. Like the Pertusola, the Marigola is in the commercial fleet of the Carboflotta group.


The Marigola arrived in the early hours of Monday at the Pembina dock
(From Prince Rupert Port Authority vessel tracking listings)


The Pembina documentation also provides a timeline of the project's development as well, making for a visual review of the path from abandoned pulp mill site to shipment terminal.



In the update on the operational status of the new terminal, Pembina also has included a slide show of the Grand Opening which took place on April 12th.

All of their notes can be explored further here.

In their most recent release of Financial results and future projects from February, Pembina noted that  plans for an expansion of the Watson Island terminal are currently on hold, with Pembina officials expected to re-evaluate their options by June of this year.

We are also carefully evaluating our deferred Prince Rupert Terminal Expansion project. 

We are making good use of the deferral period and are now considering a larger expansion of the facility and the use of larger vessels, which will provide even greater value to customers by improving economies of scale and lowering per unit lifting and vessel transport costs to premium markets. 

Pembina expects to make a decision in the second half of 2021.

Last week City Council members hailed the start up of the new terminal with some comments as part of their Monday April 12th Council session.

Over the weekend, the newest member of the regional industrial community outlined some notes on a donation to the City of Prince Rupert to refurbish the Basketball/Tennis Courts recreation space at McBride and Sixth Avenue East. 

The $20,000 donation from Pembina (10,000 dollars per year in a two year arrangement) will be put towards what is now being called the McBride Street Multi-Sport Court Redevelopment project.

For more notes on the newest shipment terminal for the North Coast see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

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