Overview
- Alberta is advancing a plan for a new pipeline that could move one million barrels of oilsands crude a day to the northern B.C. coast, with Premier Danielle Smith saying sovereign wealth funds are ready to take 15% to 30% minority stakes and Prince Rupert is the preferred terminal site.
- The federal–Alberta energy accord sets a floor carbon price of $130 per tonne, and both governments are still working out how to implement it by an April 1 target, while no private company has yet stepped forward to lead the project.
- A report from MEI says the Trans Mountain expansion narrowed the price gap between U.S. light oil and Alberta heavy crude by 37.5%, lifting industry revenue by US$16.7 billion and pushing non‑U.S. exports to 14% in late 2025.
- Clean Prosperity’s modeling finds the higher carbon price would raise operating costs by up to $3.75 per barrel at several oilsands sites, yet improved access to Asian buyers could add more than $10 per barrel in profitability, boosting net profits by over $3 billion and Alberta royalties by $957 million over 15 years.
- Key hurdles remain because Canada’s 2019 Oil Tanker Moratorium Act bars large crude tankers from B.C.’s north coast and coastal Indigenous leaders oppose lifting the ban, creating legal and consent barriers for any West Coast export terminal.