The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that after 12 years, the $34-billion Trans Mountain pipeline is finally finished. A four-bylined item led by Jeffrey Jones says that the pipeline's capacity of 590,000 barrels per day of Alberta heavy crude will increase to 890,000 bpd. Given the huge volume at stake, analysts want to know how the pipeline will affect profits. In 2022, the price spread between U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude and Western Canadian Select heavy crude averaged $18.22 (U.S.) per barrel. The Alberta Energy Regulator expects the gap to shrink by $3.70 (U.S.) a barrel three years after the expansion comes on-line. Oil sands companies started increasing production in preparation for TMX late last year, hitting record levels in December at 3.57 million barrels per day. Greg Pardy, head of global energy research at RBC Capital Markets, said in a recent research note that Canada's oil sands production will increase moderately from 2023 to 2030 as a result of TMX, reaching around 3.8 million barrels a day. Cenovus Energy is set to move 144,000 barrels per day to the West Coast on the line -- about 24 per cent of the new TMX pipeline's capacity, S&P Global said in a recent analysis.