TORONTO (AP) — Alberta and Ontario proposed a pipeline Monday to carry western Canadian oil east, seeking to reduce Canada’s reliance on U.S. infrastructure and open new export markets, reviving an idea that was abandoned nearly a decade ago.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the proposed 3,300-kilometer (2,050-mile) pipeline would run from Hardisty, Alberta, to Sarnia, Ontario, carrying up to 500,000 barrels of oil a day with potential for up to 800,000 barrels. She said the corridor eventually could extend to Canada’s Atlantic coast, opening the door to oil exports to Europe.
The United States is by far the largest buyer of Canada’s crude oil, while Alberta holds one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the pipeline would be a sound investment regardless of whether it is publicly or privately financed. A feasibility study is planned.
“There is still a lot of work ahead of us to deliver,” Ford said.
Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank, said a few factors have made energy security more important for Canada, but in this case the threat is more immediate.
“Michigan’s Governor has been trying for several years to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5, which feeds Canadian oil to Sarnia via the United States,” she said. “Whether the cost of building an entire 3300 kilometer pipeline to bypass the United States is proportionate to that threat remains to be seen."
Concerns about Line 5 have grown since 2017, when Enbridge disclosed that engineers had known for years about gaps in the protective coating on the section running beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. A boat anchor struck the pipeline in 2018, heightening fears that a rupture could trigger a major oil spill in the Great Lakes.
The Alberta to Ontario proposal faces major hurdles including financing, regulatory approvals and consultations with the Indigenous population. A similar project, Energy East, was abandoned in 2017 after years of political, regulatory and environmental opposition, including in Quebec.
“It’s technically feasible but it would be a massive undertaking. We are only at a very early stage of the project and we don’t have the final route or cost estimates yet," said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. “It’s not even sure the Hardisty-Sarnia pipeline will ever be built so the idea it could at some point reach the Atlantic sounds quite speculative at this stage to say the least.”
Last week, Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney advanced plans for a separate, taxpayer-subsidized Pacific coast pipeline intended to increase exports to Asian markets. Alberta is partnering with the federally owned Trans Mountain Corp. and Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline on that proposed project. Smith said the size of any private-sector stake has yet to be determined.
Smith has said she wants Alberta to double oil production to 8 million barrels a day over the next 10 to 15 years. She has argued that former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ’s government damaged Alberta’s energy industry and fueled separatist sentiment.
Alberta will hold a vote this fall on whether to hold a referendum on provincial independence.
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