CALGARY — Premier Danielle Smith says her government is zeroing in on potential routes for a new, proposed pipeline to Canada’s west coast.In an interview with Bloomberg News, Smith said there are as many as "five different ports" that are being considered as possible destinations for a pipeline that would add capacity to move approximately one million additional barrels of oil per day to tidewater for shipments to Asian markets.In an attempt to speed up the approval process, Alberta has launched technical studies aimed at advancing the project through Ottawa’s Major Projects Office.The renewed push comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to diversify Canada’s trade relationships away from the United States amid an uncertain geopolitical situation and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.While the US remains Canada’s dominant energy customer, Ottawa has signalled in recent weeks that it is looking to increase oil and gas sales to China and India.Carney told Parliament on January 27 that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy he signed with Smith in November “will build a pipeline to tidewater.”However, intense debate and opposition from indigenous groups, as well as the BC government, remain over whether another oil pipeline should be built, what the route will be, and how much it would cost.BC Premier David Eby has criticized the renewed focus on another oil pipeline, despite Smith having said the two premiers share “so much common ground” on resource and energy development, including the possibility of further expanding Trans Mountain.Eby described a recent meeting with Smith as “borderline friendly” and acknowledged that BC’s constitutional role in pipeline decisions is limited.Smith has ruled out Kitimat, BC — the location of the LNG Canada facility — as a possible route, calling the remote coastal community at the end of narrow, windy fjords “too complex” for oil tanker traffic..The premier’s office has declined to identify all five of the potential sites under consideration, but her comments point to Prince Rupert as a potentially preferred option.The city — located in northwestern BC — is already home to Canada’s third-largest port, after Vancouver and Montreal, and serves as a major export hub for Alberta commodities such as grain, propane, and plastics.“It makes more sense to take it up to an area where there’s less congestion,” Smith said, adding that the terminal could support round-the-clock operations and the export of other high-value products.Its location offers shorter shipping times to Asia compared with ports further south.The median length of a tanker trip from Prince Rupert to the Port of Shanghai is roughly 17.8 days.Journeys from Vancouver to Shanghai take, on average, 21.4 days.Any northern BC route, however, would face significant hurdles, as many First Nations have opposed oil pipelines..BC will be kept 'in the loop' on new pipeline talks, Smith says following meeting with Eby, Carney.Also, federal legislation currently bans oil tankers from operating along much of that stretch of the BC coastline.Another option being put forward is a southwest route to the Vancouver area.In 2024, the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline began shipping Alberta heavy crude to Asian markets via a terminal in Burnaby, BCThe Port of Vancouver is also currently planning a major expansion of container capacity at Roberts Bank, located south of Vancouver near the US border.A southern BC port, however, would also likely face strong opposition from environmental groups and the added complexity of building new infrastructure through a densely populated metropolitan region, said Heather Exner-Pirot, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.Exner-Pirot also pointed to another possible site near BC’s northern border with Alaska, in the territory of the Nisga’a Nation, where a proposed liquefied natural gas project known as Ksi Lisims is awaiting a final investment decision.
