Canada has presented a project for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast, which aims to increase crude oil exports to Asian markets, reduce the country's dependence on the United States and at the same time maintain existing environmental restrictions, BTA reported.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith presented the proposed route of the future oil pipeline, which would pass through the southern part of the province of British Columbia and would largely follow the existing corridor of the “Trans Mountain“ pipeline.
“The best route for a new oil pipeline is the one that passes through the already existing “Trans Mountain“ corridor to our Pacific coast - the gateway to the fastest growing markets in the world,“ Carney said in Calgary.
He said the project is part of Canada's strategy to double its exports to markets outside the United States over the next decade. The new pipeline is expected to transport more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day to Pacific ports, from where the crude will be exported to Asia.
Carney said the package of announced initiatives will attract direct investment of more than 200 billion Canadian dollars (about 141 billion US dollars) and is part of a strategy to expand trade ties with Asian markets.
The route will start in the Bruderheim area, northeast of Edmonton in the province of Alberta, and will reach the southern coast of British Columbia.
Daniel Smith announced that the Alberta government is working on the project together with the state-owned company “Trans Mountain Corporation“ and the Calgary-based “Pembina Pipeline“. She said the private sector's involvement in the financing has not yet been determined.
“This is not just another energy project. This is a nation-building project that will unlock wealth and opportunity,“ Smith said.
The Alberta government has set a goal of increasing the province's oil production to about 8 million barrels per day over the next 10 to 15 years.
The proposed project is also part of an effort to reduce Canada's economic dependence on the U.S. market. Canada exports about three-quarters of its goods and services to the U.S. market. Almost all of Canada's oil production, about 4 million barrels per day, is exported to the U.S., which accounts for about 60 percent of U.S. crude oil imports. However, since the Trans Mountain expansion came online, by 2024, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the oil exported through the Pacific Rim will already be heading to Asian markets.
The plans are part of the government's overall efforts to diversify foreign trade amid rising tensions with the United States. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canadian imports and questioned the future of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement negotiated during his first term. Yesterday it became known that the US government refused to extend the current version of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which begins a ten-year period until its expiration in 2036.
Carney emphasized that the government will not lift the current ban on oil tankers along the northern coast of British Columbia.
"We will protect the northern coast of British Columbia," the prime minister said.
He added that the federal government will compensate the province for the environmental risks associated with the construction of the oil pipeline in its southern part.
British Columbia Premier David Ebbie confirmed that he had received assurances from the federal government that the ban on tankers along the northern coast would remain in effect.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau supported the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, but opposed the Northern Gateway project, which would have run through northern British Columbia and the Great Bear Rainforest, after strong opposition from conservationists and indigenous community representatives.
The project's political significance has been further heightened by a growing separatist movement in Alberta. The province will hold a public consultation in the fall on whether to hold a referendum on secession from Canada.
Alberta has some of the world's largest proven oil reserves, and its government has been pushing for greater access to international markets beyond North America.