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CALGARY — Strathcona Resources is proposing a new route to move up to 250,000 barrels of Canadian crude a day to the West Coast by rail, with the oil then shipped from Prince Rupert to overseas markets.
The Calgary-based company says the project could be operating in less than two years by using existing CN Rail lines between Hardisty, Alta., and Prince Rupert.
The proposal is separate from plans for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast.
Instead of constructing a pipeline across British Columbia, Strathcona would move crude in rail cars to Prince Rupert and build a new marine terminal where the oil could be loaded onto tankers for export, including to Asian markets.
Strathcona executive chairman Adam Waterous told CTV News the Prince Rupert terminal would be the primary new infrastructure required for the project.
The company currently ships about 80,000 barrels of crude a day by rail.
Waterous said Strathcona wants the federal government to refer the proposal to the Major Projects Office as a project of national interest and plans to discuss it with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The project would require Ottawa to address the federal Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which prevents large tankers carrying crude or persistent oil from loading or unloading along much of British Columbia’s northern coast.
The restriction presents a different problem from the infrastructure question.
A new pipeline would require years of planning, approvals and construction to move crude across British Columbia. Strathcona’s plan would use an existing railway to reach the coast, but tankers would still need federal permission to load the oil at Prince Rupert.
Waterous has said the company intends to seek changes or an exemption to the tanker restrictions to allow the project to proceed.
The project would be entirely privately financed, although Strathcona has not released an estimated cost.
Waterous has also said the company intends to consult communities along the rail corridor and pursue Indigenous participation in the project.
Strathcona is presenting the proposal as a faster way to increase Canadian access to overseas energy markets while longer-term pipeline projects remain years away.
Canada currently sends roughly 90 per cent of its oil exports to the United States, making increased access to Asian buyers part of a broader effort to diversify Canadian trade.
Separate proposals for a new Pacific oil pipeline would involve newly constructed pipeline infrastructure and are not expected to begin operating until the 2030s.
The rail proposal also faces potential opposition and logistical concerns.
Richard Masson, an executive fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, told CTV News a Prince Rupert project would require suitable marine infrastructure and changes to the tanker ban.
He also raised concerns about the consequences of a potential derailment along portions of the rail route through the Skeena River and Bulkley Valley.
The Pembina Institute has separately argued increased oil production should be accompanied by progress on oil sands emissions commitments.
If approved, Strathcona’s proposal would provide another route for Alberta crude to reach the Pacific coast without waiting for construction of a new pipeline.
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