Trans Mountain Pipeline CEO Defends Expansion Costs, Highlights New Oil Markets

The Trans Mountain Pipeline has opened new markets for Alberta crude, including the first shipment of Canadian oil to Alaska in over a decade. Earlier this month, nearly half a million barrels of oil were transported from Vancouver to the port of Nikiski, Alaska, arriving there in just ten days.

Earlier this week, Trans Mountain Pipeline CEO Mark Maki spoke before the House of Commons Natural Resources Committee telling lawmakers that the pipeline expansion, which rang in at an eyewatering $34 billion, was “worth the cost.” Maki testified that the expansion has expanded Canada’s access to markets in Alaska, California, China, and Asia. He also assured the committee that taxpayers would recover the cost when the pipeline is eventually sold to the private sector.