CALGARY — Alberta is in talks with Japan to increase Canadian crude oil exports and reduce that country’s reliance on the Middle East following the Iran conflict.In an interview with Reuters, Energy Minister Brian Jean said that Alberta has offered to help fund the construction of a coker unit, which would enable multiple Japanese companies to process heavy crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands.Jean added Alberta is also exploring whether its heavy crude oil can be combined with a lighter, synthetic oil to make a more suitable blend for Japanese refiners.“We want to work with them to make sure that they’re able to take our oil over a long period of time,” Jean said.“We want to listen to our customers and provide what they want.”Jean was in Japan last week and met with representatives from the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), as well as refiners, steelmakers and energy traders..Japan looking to Western Canada LNG to reduce geopolitical energy risks in 2026.The minister said discussions with the Japanese officials remain ongoing.News of the talks comes as Canada — the world’s fourth-largest oil producer — is looking to diversify its energy exports due to geopolitical uncertainty and trade tariffs from US President Donald Trump.Canadian oil production is continuing to grow, with output in 2026 expected to surpass the previous record of 5.3 million barrels per day set last year.While Canada still ships 90% of its crude exports to the US through existing pipeline infrastructure, the completion of the 2024 Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has also increased Canada’s capacity to move oil to the Asian market, with China having emerged as the largest Asian purchaser of Canadian oil.Japan, which currently sources approximately 95% of its oil imports from the Middle East, has occasionally purchased cargoes shipped through Trans Mountain, but most Japanese refineries are not currently configured to process the heavy, high-sulphur crude produced from Alberta's oil sands.Alberta’s proposal could also strengthen the business case for the new one-million-barrel-per-day pipeline to the BC coast that Premier Danielle Smith's UCP government has been actively promoting.
