Enbridge says it would pitch new Alberta-B.C. pipeline only under right conditions

Lauren Krugel · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 25, 2025 2:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has expressed assurance 1 oregon much private-sector pipeline operators volition travel guardant with a program to vessel oilsands crude to the Port of Prince Rupert, B.C., and trial the national government's caller authorities to velocity on projects deemed successful Canada's nationalist interest.

But if pipeline companies are keen connected proposing a caller West Coast pipeline task successful the adjacent future, they're not saying truthful publicly.

"We've been successful progressive conversations with galore pipeline companies, and I consciousness similar we're beauteous adjacent to having either 1 oregon a consortium travel forward," Smith told reporters connected Tuesday.

Enbridge Inc. is Canada's biggest shipper of crude lipid with a immense cross-border network. It's besides the institution down the scrapped Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline to the B.C. larboard of Kitimat, southbound of Prince Rupert and further inland.

The institution said successful a written connection Wednesday that it would research market-diversifying projects, provided the request is determination from customers.

It would besides instrumentality "real provincial and national legislative change" astir clime policy, regulatory timeliness and Indigenous participation.

"We volition beryllium determination to physique what is needed for our shippers, for Alberta and for Canada — that's our job, our ngo arsenic a institution — but lone erstwhile the conditions marque consciousness and the close model is successful place," Enbridge said.

South Bow, Trans Mountain response

Meanwhile, South Bow Corp. would lone accidental it "carefully evaluates each opportunities, particularly those that complement our existent assets and fortify our existing corridor."

South Bow has nary infrastructure successful B.C. Its Keystone strategy serves U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast refineries.

The CEO of federally owned pipeline relation Trans Mountain Corp. told reporters earlier this period that his institution is among those Smith has spoken to astir spearheading a caller pipeline.

But Mark Maki said "optimizing the existing kit" is simply a precedence implicit gathering thing caller for now.

Trans Mountain flows to the B.C. Lower Mainland is presently the lone mode Alberta producers tin meaningfully entree Asia-Pacific markets.

The caller pipeline Smith envisions would vessel 1 cardinal barrels of lipid per day, and would beryllium the "anchor tenant" connected a corridor that houses different infrastructure.

Challenges remain

Richard Masson, an enforcement chap astatine the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said it's hard to spot however Smith tin entice a backstage institution to get connected board.

"She's pushing to beryllium seen to beryllium doing thing and to effort and instrumentality vantage of the temper successful the country," helium said.

"And my interest is that if you lone enactment 1 enactment connected the array and that enactment has tons barriers to being realized, you're going to extremity up with a batch of disappointed radical later."

For Enbridge, Masson said 1 stumbling artifact would beryllium however a imaginable caller West Coast strategy whitethorn impact the economics of its Mainline system, which connected immoderate fixed time is the largest-single conduit for Canadian crude flowing by pipeline to the United States.

A caller pipeline would apt person to beryllium underpinned by decades-long commitments from customers to wage to usage it, whereas the Mainline is much flexible, helium said.

If customers are already locked into paying to usage immoderate imaginable West Coast system, there's much inducement to determination crude connected that earlier the Mainline.

"That means volumes that would beryllium going down the Enbridge Mainline get pulled disconnected and enactment connected to the caller system," Masson said. "So Enbridge seems similar an improbable institution unless determination is immoderate benignant of manufacture oregon authorities support, truthful that they weren't worse disconnected connected the Mainline system."

South Bow, which was spun disconnected past twelvemonth from TC Energy, is simply a smaller institution and is improbable to person the capableness for specified an undertaking, Masson said.

Trans Mountain — a Crown corp — delivered its enlargement past twelvemonth astatine a massively higher outgo than erstwhile it was archetypal proposed.

"So, not casual to spot that happening unless the national authorities says, 'We privation you to bash it, truthful bash it,"' Masson said.

Other players and obstacles

As for different Canadian vigor infrastructure players similar Keyera Corp. and Pembina Pipeline Corp., a crude pipeline wouldn't beryllium a acceptable arsenic they're much geared toward earthy gas, Masson added.

"Their investors would beryllium unhappy if they got into it due to the fact that it's specified a large task compared to the size of the institution and it's extracurricular their halfway expertise."

Another large obstacle is the national government's tanker prohibition connected the West Coast, which yet spelled the extremity of Northern Gateway.

During the pitched statement implicit that defunct project, First Nations and biology groups were vehemently opposed to crude lipid tankers sailing on the rugged, island-dotted bluish B.C. seashore and raised alarm implicit the ecological harm that could effect from a spill.

Smith and manufacture players person been pushing Ottawa to assistance the ban, but to day there's nary motion the Liberal authorities volition oblige.

"This is simply not an country wherever we tin person a pipeline," said Anna Barford, oceans campaigner with Stand.Earth successful Vancouver.

"When Alberta says pipelines, for america that means tankers."