Feds 'will do whatever we can to help' on potential Keystone XL revival, energy minister says

OTTAWA — Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson says Canada is not focused on any one route when it comes to sending more energy into the United States, but stands ready to do “whatever we can” to help with a possible revival of the Keystone XL pipeline.

While trade talks with the U.S. have stalled over Trump’s ire about an anti-tariff ad run by Ontario, Prime Minister Mark Carney, during his most recent visit to Washington, raised the defunct pipeline during a meeting with the president as part of a strategy to secure relief from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Hodgson said the cross-border pipeline, which proposed carrying oil from Hardisty, Alta., to Nebraska, remains fully permitted on the Canadian side, should it run along the same route.

“The pipe is in the ground for a significant portion of that route. The Americans have to decide what they want to do on their side of the border,” the minister told National Post in a wide-ranging interview.

“We have said if it’s part of a bigger solution, we’re open to facilitating.”

Hodgson declined to provide specifics on what steps Canada could take, including when it came to putting taxpayer money towards it, only saying “there are always things that we can do to make it easier.”

“If we have a bigger solution, we will do whatever we can to help them with what they need.”

“We have indicated to the Americans, as part of a broader solution for the challenges, that we are open to sharing more of our energy with the Americans. We aren’t hung up on any one particular route,” adding that if the U.S. wants to talk about Keystone XL, Canada was open to the idea.

Other options Canada could explore when it comes to sending more energy south of the border include boosting electricity exports and uranium exports, the latter of which is used to power American nuclear reactors, with Canada serving as its biggest foreign supplier, according to Natural Resources Canada.

South Bow Corp., which owns the existing Keystone network, told The Canadian Press in a statement earlier this month that it would look for ways to “leverage our existing corridor” and was supportive of efforts to transport more Canadian crude oil. 

Back in February, the operator initially said it had “moved on” from the Keystone XL pipeline, after Trump called in a Truth Social post for the project to be built “NOW.”

The long and troubled project, formally submitted back in 2008, has undergone two cancellations, first by former president Barack Obama, whose administration rejected it in 2015, and then again by former president Joe Biden, who revoked its permit on his first day in office in 2021, after Trump tried to revive it during his first term in office.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Monday she was encouraged that during Carney’s most recent trip to Washington, it appeared that trade talks included “an energy pipeline that would be a replacement for Keystone,” as part of an effort of Canada “leveraging” the U.S’s demand for energy to gain reprieve on 50 per cent steel and aluminum tariffs.

Asked if energy was indeed leverage, Hodgson struck a softer tone.

“The United States uses 20 million barrels of oil a day. They produce 12 (million),” he said. “I make an observation.”

Hodgson is set to meet later this week with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright as part of a meeting of G7 energy and environment ministers, which Canada is set to host in Toronto.

Hodgson said the pair would continue to look for “shared interests” when it comes to the issue of energy security and suggested his upcoming discussions were separate from the issue of the terminated trade talks between Canada and the U.S.

“I believe energy security is part of a bigger conversation,” Hodgson said.

“I think we have all learned working with the current administration is never a straight line. It’s sort of their negotiating style, and I’m confident we’ll get there.”

The minister defended Canada’s offer of sending more energy to the U.S. after a year of widespread concern from political and business leaders about an over-reliance on the U.S. by saying it was combined with efforts to diversify Canada’s markets.

“We can grow our relationship with the U.S. No one’s suggesting we don’t want to have a relationship with the U.S. We want it on a fair basis,” Hodgson said.

Critical minerals were set to be a main topic of discussion at the G7 energy ministers meeting, building on the Critical Minerals Production Alliance that Carney introduced as the G7 leaders’ summit earlier this year, with the goal of strengthening countries’ critical minerals supply chains. 

Hodgson said he expects to make “a number of announcements” that show Canada intends to be a leader of the effort.

– With files from The Canadian Press

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