South Sudan says North drops demand for $22.80 per barrel in transit fees

KHARTOUM - The Sudanese government has dropped its initial demand for a charge of $22.8 per barrel to transport oil from landlocked South Sudan through the pipelines leading to Port Sudan, an official in Juba said on July 30.

Pagan Amum, South Sudan’s Peace minister and chief negotiator, briefed journalists in the capital Juba on July 30, shortly after returning from Addis Ababa.

Amum made the revelation upon his return from the Ethiopian capital where the African Union (AU) is hosting talks between Khartoum and Juba on post-secession arrangements, particularly economic issues.

"This discussion brought to an end the attempt to impose discriminatory surcharges by the government in Khartoum, who announced they would impose $22.8 per barrel transit fee,” he said. “They have withdrawn officially this position.”

"We will be paying pipeline fees ... and also we will be paying transit fees that are within the international practices and standards," Amum added, without saying how much the South was willing to pay.

FERC backs higher tariffs for Enbridge Alberta Clipper in dispute

CALGARY, Alta. - Pipeline tariffs are set to surge for Canada's oil producers after Enbridge Inc. won a key battle against oil sands companies that have criticized the company for building what they called an unnecessary pipeline to the United States.
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled against Suncor Energy Inc., which wanted to avoid paying additional tolls for the new $3.7-billion line. Suncor argued that Enbridge should not have built the pipeline, and its argument was supported by a number of other producers.
FERC sided with Enbridge, which wants to raise the tolls on its network of crude pipelines on April 1 in order to pay back the costs of building and operating the line, which runs 1,607 kilometers from Hardisty, Alta., to Superior, Wis.
The ruling means Enbridge tolls will increase by 97 cents, a 33-per-cent hike, over 2009 levels, Enbridge said. About three-quarters of that increase is because of Clipper costs.
That's not enough to significantly impact oil producers' profits, since it's a small percentage of the price of crude. But had Enbridge lost against Suncor, "it would have been a negative for Enbridge earnings," said UBS Securities analyst Chad Friess.

Enbridge says new oil pipelines may run below capacity until 2017

NEW YORK - Enbridge Energy Partners LP, the Houston-based pipeline partnership controlled by Canada’s largest pipeline company, said it may take seven years to fill new crude oil pipelines from Canada to the U.S. because of excess capacity.
“It may be 2017 before we see all the pipes that are being planned to be full,” said Stephen Letwin, managing director of Enbridge Energy Co., the general partner of Enbridge Energy Partners, during an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. “The fact that these pipes are not filling until 2017 is not critical because we know we are going to get our value back.”
Although the new Enbridge Alberta Clipper will operate as a common carrier line, Enbridge has throughput guarantees from several large producers in Canada’s oil sands. Because of the throughput agreements, Enbridge will collect about $180 million a year from its shippers regardless of the volume shipped. If the pipeline runs at reduced rates, shippers will pay a higher price per barrel - a fact that is leading the oilsands shippers who have signed throughput agreements to seek relief from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
It will take about 6.4 million barrels of linefill to fill the Clipper and that will “likely be later in the year or even next year,” Mark Maki, the company’s chief financial officer, said.