Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says President Donald Trump's goal of the U.S. achieving "energy dominance" depends on Canadian oil.
"I believe that the American's can't get there without Canada," said Smith in a press conference on Tuesday.
"The Americans consume 21 million barrels a day of oil. They produce 13 million barrels a day, and they have to get the balance from somewhere."
In 2023, Canada exported approximately 3.85 million barrels per day of crude oil to the U.S. For 2024, exports reached an estimated 4.6 million barrels per day.
Smith recently brokered a deal with Enbridge to boost oil exports the U.S. using the company's existing pipeline routes into the U.S.
"Our particular brand of heavy oil is perfect for their refineries, and there aren't very many great places to get it from — Venezuela, Iran, Iraq. We think we've got a very strong case to make for more pipeline access to the United States," Smith added.
She said it's time for Canada to stop depending on a single trading partner. Canada must dismantle interprovincial trade barriers and expedite the development of "nation building" projects like Energy East and the Northern Gateway pipeline.
"We can start diversifying our customer base around the world," said Smith. "And so we've got to have a bit of our own discussion internally about how we're going to address that in the long term."
Trump has promoted an "America First" policy, emphasizing production from U.S. oil and has deposits. His campaign rhetoric included phrases like "drill, baby, drill," suggesting a focus on increasing U.S. oil production rather than relying on imports.
In his inauguration speech he vowed to bring "every ounce of energy" to the presidency, implying a preference for domestic energy sources over imports.