October 1, 2026
Canada seeks to enhance its presence in global energy markets and reduce its almost complete dependence on the American market, driven by trade pressures and geostrategic tensions in the Middle East, in addition to ambitious plans to expand the infrastructure to export oil and gas towards the continent of Asia.
Canada ranks fourth in the world in oil production and fifth in natural gas production, and the energy sector represents about a fifth of its total exports. However, Ottawa exports about 90% of its crude oil and almost all of its natural gas exports to the United States, which has prompted the government to search for alternative markets.
Asian markets are emerging as a primary strategic destination, with Asian refineries seeking to diversify their sources of supplies amid the turmoil in the Middle East, and the United States moving towards importing larger quantities of Venezuelan oil, which constitutes a direct competitor to Canadian heavy crude.
In this context, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stressed that his country is working to maximize the use of its enormous potential in the energy sector, pointing to a pipeline project on the west coast to export oil to Asia, in parallel with the expansion of liquefied natural gas projects.
To achieve these goals, the Canadian government seeks to accelerate the procedures for licensing energy projects and reduce their review period to about one year, compared to previous periods that ranged between two and three years or more. The plans also include providing tax incentives to encourage companies to invest more in wells, pipelines, and processing facilities.
Official estimates indicate that the proposed pipeline projects and expansions may raise the total capacity to transport Canadian oil to about 6.8 million barrels per day by 2034, with about 30% of it allocated to the West Coast and Asian markets. As for the gas sector, liquefied natural gas projects are likely to allow more than half of the country’s exports to be directed to markets outside the United States in the coming years, in a structural shift that redraws the map of Canadian energy exports.
