Canada Premier Carney Signals Federal Support For New Oil Pipeline To West Coast: ‘My Government Will Do Everything’

Canada could soon propose building an oil pipeline to the country’s west coast as a project of national importance, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an interview with a newspaper.

“I would think, given the scale of the economic opportunity, the resources we have, the expertise we have, that it is highly, highly likely that we will have an oil pipeline,” Carney said in the interview with the Calgary Herald published on Sunday.

Carney’s comments follow the Canadian Parliament's passage of the C-5 bill, which earmarks several projects as key to national growth, accelerates their development, and removes internal trade barriers. The Liberal Prime Minister said his government will also back a proposed C$16.5 billion ($12 billion) carbon capture and storage project for Alberta’s oil sands, a longstanding demand of Canadian energy firms.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about the iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC) was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

Speaking during his visit to the annual Calgary Stampede, Carney suggested that the proposal might not come from the government but rather from the oil industry. “The private sector is going to drive it... We’ve got legislation, but we’ve also got the people in place at the federal level who can get things done.”

Several industry officials and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have lobbied for a new pipeline with a capacity of 1 million barrels per day of crude oil, connecting landlocked Alberta to a port in British Columbia. The energy industry aims to capitalize on the growing demand for Canadian crude and reduce its reliance on the United States. Over 90% of Canadian exports currently go to the U.S.

“I am confident that my government will do everything we can so that those projects can be built,” Carney said.

A combined C$280 billion worth of Canadian oil and natural gas projects have been canceled over the past decade due to concerns over economic feasibility, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, which began operating last year, is expected to reach full capacity by the end of the decade.

The iShares MSCI Canada ETF has gained nearly 16% this year, compared with 7% gains in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

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