Prairie Connector Pipeline Secures Commitments from 9 Customers

South Bow, the Calgary-based company that now owns the Keystone pipeline system, has secured commitments from nine customers for 20 years of oil service to the United States. The 465,000 barrels per day commitment underpins a proposed line called Prairie Connector, which would run from Hardisty, Alta., to the US border and link with another pipeline system proposed by Bridger.

South Bow is targeting a final investment decision by mid-2027. This move revives debate over whether Alberta crude should move south or west through British Columbia.

Richard Masson, former CEO of the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, said the southern route has the clearer near-term business case because it connects Alberta crude to refineries that already want it. The US received 97 per cent of Canada's crude oil exports by value in the decade before the Trans Mountain expansion.

Masson also noted that a West Coast pipeline would let Canadian producers reach more buyers in Asia and reduce dependence on the US, but at a higher cost.