Canada's Carney Sees New Oil Pipeline as Likely

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Looking to expand trade options outside North America, Canada's prime minister said a new crude oil pipeline would likely make the list of national-priority projects.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an interview with The Calgary Herald, published Sunday, that his administration was supportive of new arteries to ports along the west coast of Canada.

"I would think, given the scale of the economic opportunity, the resources we have, the expertise we have, that it is highly, highly likely that we will have an oil pipeline that is a proposal for one of these projects of national interest," he said.

Canada holds some of the largest oil deposits in the world, though less than 5% of it makes it out of North America. With the U.S. refinery sector tailored to process the heavier type of crude oil in Canada, the nation is the top oil exporter to the world's largest economy by far.

Canada typically delivers around 3.8 million to 4 million barrels per day (BBL/d) to the U.S., compared to 525,000 BBL/d from Mexico, the No. 2 supplier. Canadian oil exports, meanwhile, brought in $86 billion in revenue in 2023, the last full year for which Canada published data.

Carney's interview followed the passage of the One Canadian Economy Act, a measure that was introduced in response to U.S. tariffs to remove trade barriers and advance nation-building projects, including pipelines.

"I think realistically, we should want to be an energy superpower, given the sovereignty that will give us, given the resources that will give us for our social programs, given what that will do to help with the energy transition and create great jobs," the prime minister said.

West coast options are already expanding. Shell plc (London, England) leads the LNG Canada project in British Columbia, which made its debut delivery last week. Pembina Pipeline Corporation (Calgary), meanwhile, is working with the tribal Haisla Nation to develop the Cedar LNG facility, a floating liquefied natural gas facility off the coast of British Columbia.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production Project Database can click here for a report on the Cedar LNG project and click here for the LNG Canada project reports.

While the prime minister supported several projects as national priorities, Carney said approval would be more of a bubble-up approach rather than mandates from the federal government.

"The private sector is going to drive it," he said. "We've got legislation, but we've also got the people in place at the federal level who can get things done."

Carney, a former central bank official, secured the premiership after long-time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped aside early this year during a national dispute over how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies.

Trump threatened to impose tariffs on energy imported from Canada, but later backed down. Trade talks are ongoing amid newfound acrimony between the North American neighbors, with Trump already enacting steep tariffs on imported metals from Canada. Talks were suspended briefly, but resumed after Canada scrapped a tax on technology.

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