Amid Tariff Threats, Alberta Vies for More Oil Exports

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Facing steep tariff threats from a top trading partner, and with the federal government in limbo, Alberta said it would form a working group to examine higher oil exports to the United States and an increase in production.

"The world needs more Alberta oil and gas, and we need to make sure Alberta is meeting those needs," Premier Danielle Smith, a member of the right-wing United Conservative Party, said on Monday.

Alberta holds some of the richest oil and gas deposits in the world and is the top crude oil exporter to the United States with about 60% of total deliveries. Smith said Monday that the provincial government signed a letter of intent with Enbridge Incorporated (NYSE:ENB) (Calgary, Alberta) to form a working group alongside the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission.

"The working group will evaluate future egress, transport, storage, terminaling and market access opportunities across the more than 29,000 kilometers (18,000 miles) of the Enbridge network in support of moving more Alberta oil and gas to Canadians and American partners," Smith's government explained.

The government added that it was committed to doubling Alberta's crude oil production and increasing pipeline capacity, all of which it said would support North American security.

Alberta produces around 4 million barrels of oil per day. The Alberta Energy Regulator expects production to increase another 12% by 2026 "as the number of new wells placed on production remains relatively elevated and producers are expected to take advantage of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion."

Trans Mountain, an oil pipeline that feeds ports in British Columbia, may help Canada find new trading partners in Asia. Despite Alberta's ambitions for increased cross-border flows, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods, including energy, when he takes office later this month. He brokered a free-trade deal with Canada and Mexico during his first term in office.

Trump's tariff threat is aimed at curbing the flow of illicit drugs and immigrants across the border, though after a years-long global fight against inflation, the added tariff costs would trickle down to the consumer level.

Disputes over how to address the tariff threat have cost long-term Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau his job. He announced Monday he would stand down once a new leader was selected, suspending parliament until March 24 for a vetting period.

His deputy, Chrystia Freeland, had already stepped aside by December after a row over how to handle Trump's tariff threats.

Federal elections are scheduled for October. Pierre Poilievre, the leader of The Conservative Party, took to the social media channel X to call Trudeau a "coward" who should have instead faced him now in a general election rather than resign.

"So, the country now spirals out of control with a weak lame-duck PM, while Liberals fight each other for power," he said on Monday.

Jagmeet Sing, the leader of the left-wing New Democratic Party, said neither Trudeau and his Liberal Party, nor the Conservatives, were the right choice for Canada.

"People who oppose callous Conservative cuts to health care, and everyone who opposes the rich getting richer while everyone else falls further behind, I'm asking them all to stand together this time to stop the Conservatives and build Canada's first government for working people," he said.

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