Canada ties new West Coast pipeline to oil sands expansion

By Tsvetana Paraskova Oilprice.com Tue, July 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM PDT | 5 min read

Canada's largest oil sands producers, the Alberta provincial government, and the federal government have reached a new milestone in advancing the planned West Coast pipeline. The proposed pipeline would move an additional 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil sands output from Alberta to the British Columbia coast.

On Monday, the parties unveiled the backgrounder document for the new pipeline, named the West Coast Oil Pipeline (WCOP). According to the document, "Alberta has agreed to implement financial supports to enable the oil production growth needed to underpin new export capacity, including the pipeline to Asian markets and the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) optimization."

The new pipeline is contingent on the five top oil sands producers—Canadian Natural, Cenovus, ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial Oil, and Suncor—committing to the Pathways carbon capture and storage (CCS) project and reducing their operational emissions. This commitment was a key demand from Prime Minister Mark Carney's federal government in exchange for approving the 1-million-bpd pipeline, which aims to expand Alberta's oil production and diversify Canada's export base with new customers in Asia.

Committed to Pipeline and Emissions Reductions

In the deal, the federal government highlighted the emission reduction goals, job creation, and enhanced energy sovereignty by attracting buyers of Canadian oil beyond the United States.

The province of Alberta stressed that oil sands producers have been given the green light to double oil production, and that the deal unlocks billions of dollars in investments and production needed for the new West Coast projects.

Environmental campaigners, however, criticized the backgrounder document released on Monday, calling it "a master class in greenwash."

The new WCOP will require additional years and numerous permits, including approvals in British Columbia, before it can begin serving oil sands companies and facilitating Canadian crude oil exports to Asia. Nevertheless, recent major milestones—from the official approval earlier this month to this week's backgrounder outlining the parties' commitments—are moving the project closer to reality.

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Had it not been for the geopolitical upheavals and crises over the past year, the project may never have cleared any hurdles beyond Alberta's provincial government. However, U.S. trade and tariff policies, along with threats to Canada's independence, prompted Canadian politicians to work toward reducing reliance on the U.S. for energy exports. Prior to U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White House for his second term, the U.S. imported 90% of all oil Canada exported.

Threatened by tariffs and negative rhetoric from the Trump administration, Canada chose to pursue energy superpower status by expanding its crude and LNG exports to Asia—a market with a constant demand for energy commodities.

Oil Pipeline Milestones

The WCOP represents a major step toward bringing increased volumes of Canadian crude to the West Coast for export to Asia.

Key milestones in the project include the commitments made by the governments and the industry, announced by Canada and Alberta on Monday.

The Government of Canada and the five top producers, united in the so-called Oil Sands Alliance (OSA), have agreed to establish a regulatory working group. This group aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal statutes and regulations governing oil sands development. Canada has also agreed to...