![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Listen to this article<\/p>\n
Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n
Energy and environmental organizations are reacting with alarm to the recent Canada-Alberta deal to build a new oil pipeline to the West Coast, questioning whether overseas buyers can be found for the oil that may eventually flow through the pipeline.<\/p>\n
The Alberta government’s proposal estimates the pipeline would cost $35.2 to $43.7 billion, with the federal and Alberta governments remaining majority owners in the project. That’s despite an earlier promise from Prime Minister Mark Carney \u2014 enshrined in his government’s memorandum of understanding<\/a> with Alberta \u2014 that the pipeline would be privately financed.<\/p>\n “What we’re seeing here is that we’ve got a pipeline that is being built for political reasons rather than economic reasons. And that’s tremendously concerning,” said Chris Severson-Baker, executive director of Pembina Institute, the energy think-tank which has been working for decades on decarbonization in Canada’s oil industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I think a big part of the reason for this deal is to try to address the concerns the prime minister has about national unity, which does not make the pipeline a good economic decision.”<\/p>\n WATCH | Canada, Alberta unveil pipeline deal: Carney and Smith agree on southern route for proposed West Coast pipeline<\/p>\n Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith agree on a route through southern B.C. for a new oil pipeline to Canada’s West Coast.Energy transition ramps up in Asia<\/p>\n Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s pipeline push had become a symbol of the province’s break with Carney\u2019s Liberal government in Ottawa, with last week’s deal marking a chance for the two sides to come together. But the governments were only able to get one private company, Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation \u2014 not related to the Pembina Institute \u2014 to join the project with a 10 per cent stake. <\/p>\n The company has not invested or pledged any capital to build the pipeline yet.<\/p>\n “There is simply no private company that is interested in taking this level of risk. They don’t see a future in that scale of oilsands production in Canada,” Severson-Baker said.<\/p>\n That’s because countries in Asia, where Smith wants the oil to end up, are quickly transitioning to electric vehicles and green energy, reducing their future demand for climate-warming oil. <\/p>\n According to the latest analyses from Ember, a widely cited energy research organization based in the U.K., exports of Chinese electric vehicles have reached<\/a> an all-time high this May \u2014 up a whopping 49 per cent from just one year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Southeast Asian countries are importing those vehicles in record numbers, indicating that the fuel crisis caused by the Iran War has spurred the entire region to turn toward electrified transport. In China itself, more than half of new cars sold now are electric, and most electric vehicles are cheaper than their gasoline equivalent, according to the<\/a> International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n Some regions do continue to see oil demand rise, such as India and Africa, but oil demand will decline in high-income countries in Europe and North America. Most of the global oil demand decline will be from electric cars and greener electricity grids, but oil demand will rise from aviation, petrochemicals and other industries, according to the IEA’s modelling.<\/p>\n In a scenario where countries around the world continue to lower their emissions and follow all the climate policies they have implemented or proposed until now, the IEA now says that oil demand will peak around 2030<\/a> before gradually declining.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783457951_909_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783457952_854_default.jpg\")
A solar farm in western China’s Qinghai province. China is building some of the world’s largest solar facilities to transition away from fossil fuels. (Ng Han Guan\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783457952_837_default.jpg\")
The Syncrude oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta. A new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast will require significant oilsands expansion to fill it. (Todd Korol\/Reuters)<\/p>\n