With Trade War Brewing, Canadian Oil Group Seeks to Reduce Reliance on U.S.

With President Donald Trump roiling the American relationship with its neighbor to the north, the Canadian oil industry’s biggest trade group is floating ideas for reducing its dependence on the U.S.

One possibility would be reviving Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal, according to Tim McMillan, chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Currently, all but one of Canada’s oil pipelines run to the U.S., and gaining the ability to ship crude off the northern Pacific coast to Asia is “crucially important,” McMillan said during an on-stage interview at an industry conference on Tuesday.