Eby says Canada should build refineries, not pipelines, after Venezuela attack

The push for a new pipeline to B.C. is ramping up in the wake of the U.S. attack on Venezuela.

British Columbia Premier David Eby says Canada should prioritize building more oil refinery capacity over new export pipelines amid the threat that Venezuelan oil could begin to displace Canadian crude in U.S. refineries.

The premier was responding to recent calls from the Alberta government to expedite new pipeline infrastructure from the oilsands to the B.C. coast, following the American capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the Trump administration’s stated plans to take control of that country’s vast oil resources.

“I, like many Canadians, am glad to see the back of Mr. Maduro,” Eby told reporters Tuesday, referring to the ousted Venezuelan leader as a “terrible man” and a “tyrannical dictator.”

But the economic risk that is posed by a potential glut of Venezuelan crude displacing Canadian heavy oil at U.S. Gulf Coast refineries would be better mitigated by refining more oil domestically, Eby said.

“If we’ve got tens of billions of dollars to spend, I think we should spend it on a refinery, and we should develop oil products for Canadians and for export, instead of being reliant on American and Chinese refineries to do it for us,” the premier said ahead of his departure on a planned trade mission to India later this week.

“We’ve got to stand on our own feet here, and building that capacity and jobs in our country is something we should be talking about as opposed to shipping raw resources out as quickly as possible,” he added.

The premier reiterated his opposition to building new oil pipelines through northern B.C., and said the existing Trans Mountain pipeline to Burnaby is not at full capacity and could be expanded further within its existing right of way.

“If we’re going to do public investment into our resources here in Canada, I think it might be time to pivot that discussion to a refinery,” he said. “We still buy oil products from the United States.”

More than 90 per cent of Canada’s oilsands exports are currently shipped to the U.S. for refining, according to data from the Canada Energy Regulator.

Venezuela boasts the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil, primarily in the same form of bituminous heavy oil that is produced in Alberta.

Shares in many of Canada’s largest oilsands companies have been trading at a discount following the ouster of Maduro and Washington’s assertion of control over Venezuela’s energy industry.

Oil production in Venezuela peaked in the 1990s but struggled in the years since under international sanctions. A resurgence of Venezuelan crude production under American control would likely further discount Canadian oil prices in a U.S.-dominated market.

“I don’t understand why, if we’re talking about massive public investment into supporting Albertans in this fragile global time, we can’t talk about supporting all Canadians with oil and gas products that are made right here at home while we transition,” Eby said.

He added the B.C. government remains focused on diversifying markets for a variety of Canadian products away from the U.S. in light of Trump’s attacks on Canadian sovereignty through threats of annexation and tariffs.

The premier also condemned the U.S. military’s unilateral actions against Venezuela as “deeply unsettling,” and said the focus of his trip to India will be on making B.C. “more independent than ever from the United States.”

Eby will be joined on the trade mission by Ravi Kahlon, the province’s minister of jobs and economic development.