Canada advances Alberta pipeline to Pacific Coast to expand oil exports beyond the US

TORONTO (AP) — Canada took a step Thursday toward opening a new route for its vast oil reserves to Asian markets as Prime Minister Mark Carney advanced a Pacific Coast pipeline from Alberta, seeking to reduce the country’s dependence on the U.S. while easing separatist tensions and preserving environmental protections.

Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled a proposed route through southern British Columbia, saying the project would open more Canadian oil to Asian markets while preserving a ban on oil tankers off northern British Columbia.

“The best route for a new pipeline is one that goes through one that already exists south through the Trans Mountain corridor, to our Pacific Coast, the gateway to the world’s fastest growing markets,” Carney said in Calgary.

Carney has set a goal for Canada to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade and has said a pipeline can reduce the price discount on current oil sales to U.S. markets.

The line would follow closely along a route already traversed by the Trans Mountain pipeline.

It would run from Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, to the southern British Columbia coast, delivering more than one million barrels per day to tankers and then to Asian markets.

Smith said the Alberta government is partnering with the federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation an...