RBC analysis indicates the Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) pipeline operated near full capacity in April, based on oil tanker activity in British Columbia. A reported 28 tankers left Burnaby's Westridge Marine Terminal last month.

A note indicates that April tanker volumes suggest TMX may have operated above its contracted capacity of 712,000 barrels per day.

RBC estimates full utilization would involve about 30 tanker loadings. The pipeline has a total capacity of 890,000 barrels per day. 

In April, California received 115 shipments of Canadian crude, totalling about 38.1 million barrels, according to a bank's tanker tracking tool. Trans Mountain also shipped oil to Alaska and Washington state.

The majority of Trans Mountain oil shipments to Asia went to China (80), followed by South Korea (4), Japan (2), Brunei (1), and Indonesia (1), reported the Epoch Times.

Recent trade uncertainty involving U.S. tariffs has intensified the debate around pipelines. Oil, Canada's top export, is primarily shipped to the United States.

Western Canadian oil lacks a pipeline to Eastern Canada, forcing those regions to rely on oil imports from the U.S. and other foreign nations.

The head of Trans Mountain Corp. believes a new pipeline for landlocked crude to reach any Canadian coast can be built within the next ten years.

"Realistically, it's not a bad long-term economic call on the part of the country to see enhanced access to tidewater," CEO Mark Maki told the Globe and Mail, calling for renewed optimism despite pushback from at least one former environment minister.

Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada should maximize existing pipeline use before building more, noting TMX operates below half capacity. 

Maki, who acknowledged the pipeline has further potential, emphasized the need for new infrastructure to access overseas markets.

Premier François Legault, now open to pipelines, proposed exporting Alberta's oil to Europe as a substitute for U.S. reliance. 

"Why wouldn't we be talking about providing energy security to our friends in … Québec … by having our own pipeline built?" Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters in January.

"The energy security that we have in eastern Canada, virtually 100% of what they get either comes to them via the United States," she added.

The oil and gas sector opposes new pipelines under current regulations and seeks repeal of the cap and assessment law to make it happen.

Over half (55%) of Quebecers now favour pipelines, according to a recent Léger poll. This is notable as the province blocked the Energy East pipeline in 2017 due to a lack of "social accessibility."

If completed, Energy East would have carried 1.1 million barrels of crude oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan daily to refineries in New Brunswick.

Canada is home to the world's third-largest oil reserves.

Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to accelerate major energy projects, aiming to make Canada an "energy superpower." 

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc informed Radio-Canada that discussions regarding energy corridors may not encompass oil pipelines.

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