PJ The Belt - June 04, 2026


Trump Approves MASSIVE ALBERTA DEAL as Canada FALLS into Recession


Episode Stats


Length

8 minutes

Words per minute

164.20224

Word count

1,377

Sentence count

93


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

As the world sees record high oil prices, a new pipeline is being revived in North America out of cancelled Keystone XL parts. President Donald Trump has greenlit a proposed project to transport Canadian oil from the Canada-U.S. border to Wyoming.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 U.S. President Donald Trump has greenlit a proposed project to transport Canadian oil from the Canada-U.S. border to Wyoming.
00:00:07.520 They didn't sign a pipeline deal, and we have pipelines going up.
00:00:12.020 As the world sees record high oil prices, a new pipeline is being revived in North America out of cancelled Keystone XL parts.
00:00:20.140 U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order authorizing a proposed project to transport Canadian oil across the border.
00:00:30.000 Alberta and the United States share a lot more in common than Alberta does with the rest of Canada.
00:00:37.420 I mean, literally, think about it.
00:00:39.180 You have British Columbia, which is supposed to be part of the same country as Alberta,
00:00:45.300 making it nearly impossible for Alberta to build a pipeline to the north.
00:00:50.460 You also have a president in Washington, D.C., who approved the project previously very quickly
00:00:55.680 and views Alberta with a favorable eye, unlike the liberals in Ottawa.
00:01:00.000 Seems fairly easy to decide which partner to work with, don't you think?
00:01:04.640 This is a presidential permit authorizing the Bridger Pipeline.
00:01:08.560 U.S. President Donald Trump approves a permit for the Bridger Pipeline,
00:01:12.980 a new take on a project scrapped by Joe Biden.
00:01:17.240 Slightly different than the last administration.
00:01:22.560 After years of pressure from environmental groups and Indigenous communities,
00:01:26.840 The first Keystone Pipeline was cancelled in 2021.
00:01:31.780 Now, under Trump, construction of the new pipeline would take a different route,
00:01:36.940 running along the Montana-Saskatchewan border before a south turn towards Wyoming.
00:01:42.720 The Bridger Pipeline would connect the Northern Link owned by Alberta's South Bow Corporation
00:01:47.720 to deliver much more crude oil to the Americans.
00:01:51.060 A huge new export capacity, probably about 550,000 barrels is the nameplate capacity
00:01:56.880 and certainly echoes the Keystone XL that had so many issues.
00:02:01.300 It's potentially going to be on stream by 2029 to early 2030,
00:02:05.880 so pretty quick turnaround as opposed to a brand new pipeline taking at least eight years.
00:02:10.340 On social media, Alberta's premier said it took years of advocacy.
00:02:15.280 There's a lot of sort of condescension in central Canada towards Smith, towards Alberta,
00:02:21.640 towards this referendum on a referendum.
00:02:23.500 Who do these people think they are?
00:02:25.200 Well, they are an angry people and they have every reason to be angry.
00:02:28.800 From the time the provinces were founded, when Alberta and Saskatchewan were not given
00:02:33.980 the natural resources powers that other provinces had, to the latest regulation from Ottawa
00:02:39.540 limiting the development of the oil sands for environmental or other reasons.
00:02:43.580 our burdens have been put upon by a central Canadian elite that looks at them as something
00:02:49.300 of a colony. And the result of that indifference and condescension from central Canada is this
00:02:56.160 referendum on a referendum. We're responsible for that here in the centre. We're the ones who are
00:03:00.540 as much to blame as anyone else, including Daniel Smith. Here's why the timing of this matters so
00:03:06.700 much. Right now, globally, everything is shifting. You've got countries in Europe actively trying to
00:03:14.180 move away from the Middle East when it comes to energy. You've got demand going through the roof
00:03:20.120 and you got the United States stepping in and saying, we can supply it. They're ramping up
00:03:25.560 exports, they're fast tracking permits. What used to take years is now being pushed through in months,
00:03:30.920 even weeks sometimes so this isn't some slow moving maybe someday type of situation this is
00:03:38.040 happening while the world is literally scrambling for stable energy and when that kind of demand
00:03:43.600 shows up alberta becomes one of the most important pieces on the board because it's not just one
00:03:50.180 pipeline being talked about anymore you've got multiple projects different routes hundreds of
00:03:57.240 thousands even millions of barrels per day being planned out at a certain point you stop looking
00:04:04.060 at this like a single deal and you start realizing this is an entire network being built i've seen
00:04:10.960 proposals for as much as 2.5 million barrels a day that would come from canada go to the united
00:04:15.760 states and most of that permitting would be under the authority of the energy dominance council but
00:04:20.840 i think what it comes down to is we need reliable affordable energy for people because when people
00:04:26.020 are hurting that's when they put pressure on their politicians and even the most left-wing
00:04:30.160 ideological politician will realize boy I gotta I gotta moderate this and come back to center and
00:04:35.020 that's what we're seeing in Canada Alberta and Wyoming have talked a lot about energy
00:04:39.680 prospects that we can do together this is just one of those yeah I saw that you you've taken
00:04:45.000 some meetings with various ministers from the Alberta government over the last number of months
00:04:48.960 could you characterize for Canadians who are watching tonight your view of how important
00:04:54.000 that integration is and where you see the future of it going? I think we share a lot of common
00:05:00.040 values. We both understand how important it is that we use energy correctly, that we continue
00:05:07.960 to improve the technology, and that we in fact can power the nation of this continent. And being
00:05:16.580 able to work together on these issues is something that we've done historically. And I think it just
00:05:21.780 makes us both move forward much more aggressively.
00:05:24.420 If you look at the benefits that can derive from the kind of relationship that we have
00:05:30.260 and the ability to be able to share those energy resources,
00:05:33.280 you understand that this country has really no problem being able to power our world.
00:05:39.500 A proposed pipeline that will transport Canadian crude into the U.S.
00:05:43.360 has been rubber-stamped by U.S. President Donald Trump.
00:05:46.680 Trump signed an executive order Thursday authorizing the project.
00:05:49.980 It partners Canadian pipeline company Southbow with American counterpart Bridger Pipeline
00:05:55.380 and will transport oil from the U.S. border at Saskatchewan into Wyoming.
00:05:59.960 It's big news for those impacted by the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2021.
00:06:05.800 U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order approving a line that would run from Alberta to Wyoming.
00:06:10.920 He did this in Sharpie yesterday.
00:06:13.420 While there is a signed order, there are also many questions around how it could clear the challenges
00:06:18.200 that have stopped construction of previous pipeline projects.
00:06:21.780 Joining us with more is Jeff Rubin, former CIBC World Markets Chief Economist.
00:06:25.700 Good morning.
00:06:26.660 Good morning.
00:06:27.480 So we do know this would be a joint venture with Canadian and U.S. companies,
00:06:31.880 South Bow and Bridger.
00:06:33.000 It's going to cross the border at Montana, and it's going to use existing infrastructure.
00:06:37.300 What needs to happen to get this off the page and operational?
00:06:40.940 Well, it's basically a resurrection of the Keystone XL project.
00:06:49.320 The Canadian part is already built.
00:06:52.820 The U.S. part is still to be built, but now has regulatory approval.
00:06:59.080 So, you know, it's an important step.
00:07:02.140 Right now, Alberta production is a little over 4 million barrels a day.
00:07:07.960 It's pipeline constrained.
00:07:10.080 This would allow it to grow by a little over half a million barrels.
00:07:14.540 There are still local regulatory challenges.
00:07:18.720 But with the Trump administration behind it,
00:07:22.340 there's a good chance that this is probably going to go ahead.
00:07:26.240 Yeah, we were looking for a government reaction this morning,
00:07:28.520 Canadian government reaction.
00:07:29.540 So far, haven't seen any.
00:07:30.540 But Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted this yesterday after the announcement.
00:07:34.740 She had a longer post, but at the end of it, she says,
00:07:37.040 the U.S. is our most important trading partner.
00:07:38.760 We will continue to deliver energy to help secure North American energy dominance.
00:07:44.400 The pipeline being built to the south towards the United States, in my opinion, is great news.
00:07:49.840 It gives Alberta more independence from the rest of Canada, particularly considering situations like what we have right now,
00:07:56.600 where Alberta wants to build a pipeline to the West Coast through B.C. and B.C.'s making it nearly impossible.
00:08:02.560 So this right here reminds Alberta that it might just be better to negotiate directly with the Americans than to continue to try with Canada.
00:08:10.860 But what do you think? You think Alberta made the right move in trying to pursue the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline in association with Donald Trump?
00:08:18.640 Or should they continue pushing for a West Coast pipeline with Canada? Let me know in the comments.