Alberta and Ontario proposed a crude oil pipeline and energy corridor across Canada as a way of reducing the country\u2019s dependence on the US.\n<\/p>\n
The 3,300-kilometer (2,051-mile) route, called the Northern Shield Energy Corridor, would connect the Alberta oil-storage hub of Hardisty with the central Canadian refining center of Sarnia, Ontario, Alberta Premier\u00a0Danielle Smith\u00a0and Ontario Premier\u00a0Doug Ford\u00a0told reporters Monday.\n<\/p>\n
The proposed pipeline would carry about 500,000 barrels of oil a day for domestic use and export markets, and could expand to 800,000 barrels a day. Ontario will also explore creating its own strategic petroleum reserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy reducing Canadian reliance on oil imports, the Northern Shield pipeline could help stabilize oil prices across the country and strengthen national security,\u201d Ontario and Alberta said in a release\n<\/p>\n
The project proposed Monday is similar to the mothballed Energy East oil pipeline floated more than a decade ago but later scrapped. A new cross-Canada oil pipeline would allow Canadian producers to avoid moving crude through the US, as is done on\u00a0Enbridge Inc.\u2019s Line 5, which crosses the border in Ontario and connects with another line that moves oil to Quebec.\n<\/p>\n
A feasibility study on the Northern Shield proposal is set to be completed by the end of this year, and will explore costs and commercialization options. Ford told reporters that while a private proponent would be welcome, a government-led project can\u2019t be ruled out.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a great investment, no matter if it\u2019s the government,\u201d he said. \u201cI always prefer looking at the private sector investing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
What\u2019s happening in stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities right now.<\/p>\n
Since US President Donald Trump launched a trade war with Canada last year, sending relations to their lowest point in decades, Canadian political leaders including Prime Minister Mark Carney have been looking to diversify exports to other countries and lessen reliance on US infrastructure. Last week, Carney and Smith announced plans to build a new 1 million barrel a day pipeline to Canada\u2019s Pacific coast to boost exports of crude oil to Asian markets.<\/p>\n
The new west coast line will be built by government-owned Trans Mountain Corp., operator of the only existing oil pipeline running from Alberta to a Canadian port on the Pacific.\n<\/p>\n
Ford said the Northern Shield proposal is being discussed with the Major Projects Office, a federal entity that works to provide faster regulatory approvals.\n<\/p>\n
The proposal is just the latest in a series of new projects announced in the past year that could add more than 2 million barrels a day of capacity to ship crude out of out Western Canada.\n<\/p>\n
They include Enbridge Inc.\u2019s Mainline expansion, the new Bridger conduit that will run from Alberta to Wyoming, an expansion of the existing Trans Mountain system to add 300,000 barrels of daily capacity.\n<\/p>\n
The sudden surge of new export conduits has\u00a0raised questions\u00a0about whether oil sands producers and their investors have the stomach to boost capital spending to fill the pipes. Oil companies in the region have room to expand, according to Smith, who wants Alberta\u2019s crude output to double.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI have absolute confidence that we will be able to do it,\u201d she said during the press conference. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to think big and we\u2019ve got to be looking at being one of the top three energy producers and exporters in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta and Ontario proposed a crude oil pipeline and energy corridor across Canada as a way of reducing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-785781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}