Prime Minister Mark Carney pressed U.S. President Donald Trump on reviving the Keystone XL pipeline during their White House meeting Tuesday, according to a source with knowledge of the talks. According to CBC the source said Trump was open to the idea, signalling fresh momentum for a project Ottawa had largely stepped away from.Keystone XL was first proposed in 2008 to move more than 800,000 barrels of crude per day from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, roughly 8% of U.S. oil demand at the time..The project has been blocked and revived multiple times. Barack Obama rejected it in 2015, Donald Trump approved it in 2017, and Joe Biden cancelled it again in 2021. TC Energy, which spearheaded the project, has since spun off its oil division and publicly stated it has moved on.For Alberta, the economic implications are significant. The province’s energy sector contributes close to 30% of Canada’s exports, and analysts estimate Keystone XL could have supported more than 13,000 construction jobs in Alberta and Saskatchewan during its build-out, along with $3–4 billion in GDP gains.The line’s capacity represented about 20% of Alberta’s daily crude production, offering a major outlet for landlocked oil sands and potentially narrowing the discount Canadian producers face compared to U.S. benchmarks..Alberta’s government previously committed $1.5 billion in equity to get the project started, a gamble critics have called a 100% taxpayer loss after Biden’s cancellation. Carney’s decision to put Keystone XL back on the table raises the possibility of recouping some of that lost value if private investors can be brought back on board.Trump, who has repeatedly declared Keystone XL should be built “now,” has already revoked Biden’s order blocking the line. Carney’s willingness to link Canada’s support to relief from U.S. tariffs, which currently impose a 50% duty on Canadian steel and aluminum, suggests a potential trade-off that could deliver wins for both governments.The Alberta government is also exploring its own proposals, including a pipeline to B.C.’s north coast. But B.C. Premier David Eby has dismissed that plan as unrealistic and too costly. By contrast, Keystone XL has a long-established route, environmental assessments already on record, and could be revived more quickly if political backing and private capital align.Whether the project can overcome past legal challenges and corporate reluctance remains uncertain. But Carney’s Oval Office intervention signals a clear shift: Alberta’s economic future — and Ottawa’s trade leverage — may once again hinge on one of North America’s most controversial pipelines.
