Canadian Crude Pipeline Race Accelerates as New Capacity Plans Emerge, TPH Says

Four Canadian crude pipeline proposals are advancing across western, southern, and eastern corridors, highlighting the country's ongoing need for export capacity while raising concerns that the market may not support every project, TPH Energy Research analyst AJ O'Donnell said in a note on Tuesday. The proposed expansions would significantly increase crude takeaway options from Western Canada, but industry observers expect competition for shipper commitments and capital to determine which projects ultimately proceed. The most commercially advanced proposal is SOBO/Bridger's Prairie Connector, which has been combined with the revived Liberty Pipeline right-of-way acquired from Tallgrass. The project would use an existing corridor and permitted route to connect Hardisty, Alberta, with Cushing, Oklahoma, and the US Gulf Coast. Developers have secured binding 20-year commitments and are targeting a final investment decision by mid-2027. A federal and Alberta-backed West Coast Pipeline proposal would follow the southern Trans Mountain Expansion, or TMX, corridor from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Roberts Bank, British Columbia. Pembina Pipeline Corp. would act as a private-sector.