CALGARY — The head of Trans Mountain Corp. has stated he is confident the new proposed West Coast oil pipeline will be built.CEO Mark Maki told CTV News on Thursday that he believed Premier Danielle Smith’s pipeline proposal to the BC coast — which was recently submitted to the federal Major Projects Office, with Trans Mountain Corporation appointed to lead its development — will be completed."I certainly think it can be built," Maki said."We already have built something like it. This one is a little longer, a little bigger, with more capacity than what Trans Mountain built before, but I think it's very necessary in the global context that we live in today, and that's become infinitely clearer over the last year."The proposed one-million-barrel-per-day pipeline will largely follow the existing Trans Mountain corridor and, when completed, is expected to double Canada’s export capacity to tidewater.The announcement of the project has come amid ongoing instability in global energy markets, exacerbated by the Iran conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the ongoing tariff war between Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump."Whether it's the United States, China, Korea, Japan or India, all of those countries will benefit from Canada's energy resources," Maki said."Canada has an incredibly unique resource base that is going to be in high demand for a very long time."On Thursday, West Texas Intermediate closed at US$92.19 per barrel, up 6.2%..Earlier this month, when Carney and Smith made the joint announcement in Calgary, Carney said Ottawa and Alberta would each hold equal ownership stakes in the project, with an equity share also reserved for indigenous communities.The prime minister argued government participation would help attract additional private investment as development progresses.However, while political support for the project appears to be growing, private-sector backing remains limited.Pembina is currently the only company to publicly commit to investing in the pipeline.Trans Mountain — Canada’s only other major oil pipeline to the B.C. coast — was ultimately funded by private money.Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government purchased the project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 for $4.5 billion after the company suspended construction, citing regulatory uncertainty and red tape.That expansion's cost eventually climbed to roughly $34 billion before the pipeline entered service in 2024..UPDATED: Alberta submits West Coast pipeline proposal, partners with Trans Mountain and Pembina.Despite that history, Maki said he expects the new project to be more cost-effective, adding it will be “very competitive” with the Trans Mountain system “on a per-unit basis.”“I expect this process to be much smoother than the one that Trans Mountain went through before, so there are some things working to the advantage of the new system,” he said, highlighting the “very, very strong” financial case provided by the existing Trans Mountain pipeline.Maki also said the Trans Mountain pipeline has already demonstrated its financial value, with the company having paid “$1.7 billion into the treasury last year in dividends and interest."“We'll beat that this year,” Maki stated."I expect the new system to be the same, and the overall economic impact that that system will enable is enormous for the country. I think there's a very compelling case for the new pipeline."Maki believes that the federal government should also help to retain a long-term ownership stake in the existing Trans Mountain system, describing it as a national strategic asset."I think Canada should keep holding this thing," he said, adding that while portions of the pipeline could eventually be sold to indigenous groups or institutional investors such as pension funds, Ottawa should maintain an ownership stake in the project.
