South Bow gauging shipper interest in new Alberta-to-U. S. pipeline project

Pipeline facilities now owned by South Bow Corp. are seen in Hardisty, Alta., on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Oil pipeline operator South Bow Corp. says it is gauging customer interest in a new project to ship Alberta crude to multiple U.S. destinations. 

The Calgary-based company says it has begun soliciting binding commitments for long-term transportation service from Hardisty, Alta., to points south including the massive crude storage hub at Cushing, Okla., and the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

The bid process known as an “open season” is to last until the end of this month, and South Bow will take the two months after that to determine whether there is enough commercial support to move ahead. 

South Bow made the announcement alongside its fourth-quarter results, which included an increase in net income to $156 million from $55 million during the same period a year earlier. 

On a per-share basis, the profit amounted to 61 cents, up from 54 cents in the same 2024 period. 

Revenue was $503 million versus a year-earlier $488 million. 

South Bow operates the existing Keystone pipeline which begins in Hardisty and delivers crude to refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast. 

The ill-fated XL expansion first pitched in 2008 would have added capacity, along with a section of new pipe providing a more direct route to the Gulf of Mexico.

Keystone XL has been repeatedly killed and resurrected by successive U.S. administrations over the years, and President Donald Trump has said he wants to see it once again revived. Prime Minister Mark Carney has floated the prospect with Trump within the context of broader trade talks last year.

South Bow offered few details in its release Thursday about the possible project’s timing, scale and structure. But it has said it would pursue projects that leverage its existing infrastructure.

Private U.S. firm Bridger Pipeline LLC has proposed a pipeline that would carry 550,000 barrels per day of crude from the Canada-U.S. border in Montana to Guernsey, Wyo. There has been speculation around that pipeline linking up with unused pipe that had been meant for the defunct Keystone XL project north of the border. 

South Bow was spun off from TC Energy Corp. in late 2024. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2026.