Inter Pipeline Fund's Polaris pipeline system has begun serving Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Kearl oilsands mine, which is expected to start producing by the end of this year. The Calgary-based pipeline company said it is now generating cash flow under a 25-year agreement to ship diluent - used to thin out bitumen so that it can flow through pipelines - to the mine site in northern Alberta. The $90million project to connect Kearl to the Polaris system was completed on schedule and below budget.
Imperial has signed up to ship 60,000 barrels per day on Polaris.