Price surge from Trans Mountain expansion highlights need for new pipelines: MEI
Global News
The average price-gap between light U.S. and heavy Alberta crude blends narrowed by 37.5 per cent between 18-month lead-up to TMXs completion and the 18 months that followed.
Canada’s ability to sell oil in markets outside of the United States has paid off big time so far, underscoring the urgent need for more pipelines to coastal waters, says a report from public policy think tank MEI.
A separate study released Thursday, from climate policy non-profit Clean Prosperity, agrees the oilsands industry will reap big profits from a potential new pipeline to the West Coast — far offsetting an increase in the industrial carbon price.
The MEI report said the average price-gap between light U.S. and heavy Alberta crude blends narrowed by 37.5 per cent between the 18-month lead-up to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion’s completion in 2024 and the 18 months that followed.
That resulted in a US$16.7-billion boost to industry revenues between June 2024 and November 2025.
“The reduction in the spread means that it is becoming possible to approach the full value of our resources, which helps Canadian firms, but also increases government revenues,” MEI senior policy analyst Gabriel Giguère said in a news release.
Before the Trans Mountain expansion started up, non-U.S. Canadian oil exports made up only three per cent of the total, but that proportion grew to 14 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025.
“The global demand for Canadian energy is very real, and new infrastructure has already demonstrated its benefits,” Giguère said.
“It is urgent that governments remove the regulatory obstacles that obstruct the construction of new energy infrastructure.”
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