Alberta Premier Optimistic About Potential US-Canada Trade Deal

Danielle Smith, Premiere of Alberta, Canada, talks about the impact of tariffs enacted by the US and the push for new pipelines to carry Canadian oil from Alberta to the country's west coast.

Mark Carney said he sees opportunity for Canada to build a new pipeline to ship more oil to foreign markets, if it’s tied to billions in green investments to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint.

The prime minister, speaking after a summit with provincial leaders on Monday, said it’s “absolutely in our interest” to de-carbonize Canada’s oil and consider a new conduit to allow more crude exports without having to sell it to the US, which already buys some 4 million barrels a day from its northern neighbor.

He said there was support around the table for creating western and northern trade corridors in Canada to help export resources, including the potential “for an oil pipeline to get to tidewater.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose province produces most of Canada’s oil, described the broad outline of what she called a “grand bargain” during a press conference after the meeting in the western city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. That deal would include rapid approval of a new pipeline alongside large investments from Canadian oil sands companies into technology that offsets or captures planet-warming emissions.

The question is how to pay for it. Smith said a new pipeline that would ship 1 million barrels a day to the west coast — which she said should be privately funded — could yield revenues of C$20 billion ($14.6 billion) a year, which might also be the potential cost of a massive proposed carbon-capture project in western Canada known as Pathways.

Carney said there are various ways to lower the emissions of oil production. “I agree with her,” he said of Smith’s “grand bargain” comment.

Smith has previously said that Canada’s national unity will be at stake if there isn’t progress on building new pipelines and other measures to boost the country’s energy industry. Her preference is for a pipeline to northwestern British Columbia, adding a new gateway that’s relatively close to Asian buyers, she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Canada has only one pipeline capable of moving oil to ocean tankers — Trans Mountain, which was recently expanded to be able to handle some 900,000 barrels day. But there are obstacles to building another. The government of British Columbia has “differences of opinion” with Alberta on whether a new pipeline through the province is needed, BC Deputy Premier Niki Sharma said ahead of the meeting.

Any new pipeline would also be likely to pass through the territories of indigenous First Nations, who may oppose it. All that could lead to court challenges.

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