New markets for Canada's oil remain elusive

A war of words, along with legal challenges and counter-challenges, could see plans for Canada's Trans Mountain export pipeline scrapped

Canada's quest to export oil from its shores has hit dire straits, with Trans Mountain pipeline builder Kinder Morgan threatening to withdraw support for the C$7.4 bn ($5.75bn) project. The plan is to transport production from Alberta's oil sands through British Columbia (BC) to the Pacific coast. BC opposes the idea. The whole affair has sparked a constitutional crisis over jurisdictional issues that's almost certainly going to go to the country's Supreme Court. Hanging in the balance is vitally needed export capacity—nearly 600,000 barrels a day—to secure new markets in Asia. Without it, Canadian oil will remain landlocked at the mercy of a single customer—the United States. Alberta's barr