US Trade Rift Adds Urgency to West Coast Oil Pipeline Plan

The CEO of Trans Mountain pipeline company, Mark Maki, says that the collapse of trade talks with the United States has added urgency to planning a new oil pipeline from Canada's west coast. The project is still in its conceptual phase but both the province of Alberta and the Canadian government consider it to be in the country's national interest.

The 50% tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods has highlighted the need for Canada to diversify its exports, something that a west coast pipeline would achieve by increasing access to Asia. Maki believes that this situation makes the project 'much more urgent' and 'helpful.'

The existing 890,000-barrel-per-day Trans Mountain pipeline is already running nearly full as Canadian oil production continues to grow, despite being tripled in capacity in 2024.