Smith hints proposed Prairie Connector pipeline could become ‘Keystone 2.0’ with Trump’s support

BANFF — Premier Danielle Smith has hinted that a possible resurrection of Keystone XL and other proposals could form part of a renewed push to expand Alberta’s pipeline capacity and oil exports, but producers must be convinced to increase production in order for the projects to move forward.During an event hosted by the Canadian Energy Executive Association in Banff on Thursday, Smith said several pipeline proposals that appeared to be dead a decade ago are now returning in new or modified forms.“We now have all of [these] projects back on the table,” she said.“We have Keystone XL. We now have a new and improved Prairie Connector, which may have to be named Keystone 2.0 if we can get the support of the US president on that.”Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump made waves when he suggested Keystone XL could be revived as part of trade negotiations with Ottawa.“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” Trump said in a Truth Social post when he announced he was delaying tariffs on Canada for three days..Smith did not give any details or confirm whether Alberta or US officials had held any discussions involving Keystone XL, but a separate pipeline proposal that would follow portions of the former Keystone XL route — Prairie Connector — is already advancing through Calgary-based South Bow and its US partner, Bridger Pipeline LLC, with final investment decisions expected by the middle of next year.Trump already issued a cross-border permit to Bridger for the proposal in April.If the roughly 1,500-kilometre project is completed, it could carry as much as 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) and increase Canadian crude exports to the US by more than 12%. Approximately 150 kilometres of pipe were already installed before Keystone XL was cancelled in 2021 by original proponent TC Energy after then-US president Joe Biden revoked its permits. Smith also pointed to the proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor, which would move Alberta oil east to Ontario, a new planned new pipeline to the West Coast and the completed Trans Mountain expansion as evidence that Canada’s pipeline and energy outlook has changed since the days of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's regime. .WIECHNIK: Trump revives Keystone XL — Canada should build it and the West Coast pipeline.However, the premier said the concern is no longer whether pipelines will receive approval, but whether Alberta’s energy sector will produce enough oil to fill them.“Ten years ago, no one was saying, ‘Gee, I wonder if the energy sector will be able to produce enough to fill it,’” she said.“What we're hearing now is, ‘Gee, I wonder if the energy industry is going to be able to produce enough to fill it.’”The premier said companies now need confidence that the industry will remain profitable well beyond 2035 before committing billions of dollars to new developments.“We’ve got to convince our producers that their shareholders need to hold out a little bit because this industry is not sunsetting, and there’s going to be future value that goes past 2035, probably past 2050,” Smith said.“The big challenge we face is: how do we get back to the confidence that our producers had so that they can take the substantial leap of getting another forty thousand barrels per day or a hundred thousand barrels per day added so that we can fill all these pipelines going in every direction? We've got some work to do.”

Smith hints proposed Prairie Connector pipeline could become ‘Keystone 2.0’ with Trump’s support

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