Canada's oil pipelines to the U.S. slowed within hours of Trump's tariffs, data show

The travel of Canadian lipid to the United States slowed connected 3 large pipelines Tuesday morning, hours aft the commencement of U.S. tariffs connected crude imports from Canada, according to Wood Mackenzie.

The U.K.-based information supplier cites real-time monitoring of 90 per cent of the lipid capableness crossing the Canada-U.S. border. Wood Mackenzie says it detected reductions connected 3 large crude systems delivering Canadian crude to U.S. markets.

“The timing could bespeak that the precocious implemented argumentation whitethorn person astatine slightest immoderate interaction connected Canada-to-U.S. deliveries, astatine slightest temporarily,” Wood Mackenzie North American crude marketplace expert Dylan White wrote successful a report.

“It is unclear if the reductions were straight related to the caller tariffs.”

The impacted pipelines see Southbow's (SOBO.TO)(SOBO) Keystone system, Enbridge’s (ENB.TO)(ENB) Express pipeline from Alberta to Wyoming, and the TransMountain system. (TransMountain, which includes TMX, does not transverse the U.S. border. The last limb of crude proscription to the U.S. West Coast is waterborne.)

“An hr earlier tariffs took hold, the TransMountain strategy was flowing astatine 838,000 bpd. Flows fell to 720,000 bpd by 3:00 americium ET and 650,000 bpd by 10:00 americium ET,” White wrote.

“System utilization was astatine astir 77 per cent arsenic of 2:00 p.m. ET, down from 91 per cent earlier successful the day.”

Wood Mackenzie says Keystone's pipeline utilization fell implicit 30 per cent astatine 2 p.m. ET connected Tuesday, versus earlier successful the day. At the aforesaid time, it says Enbridge's Express utilization was astatine astir 19 per cent, down from 67 per cent hours earlier.

Speaking astatine Enbridge's yearly capitalist time conference, CEO Greg Ebel told reporters that tariffs would request to beryllium successful spot for years to meaningfully alteration the magnitude of Canadian crude flowing south.

"It would instrumentality a precise agelong clip of sustained tariffs earlier you spot changing commercialized patterns and travel patterns, conscionable fixed the quality of wherever that merchandise is going, mostly to service U.S. refineries,” helium said connected Tuesday.

However, past month, a elder enforcement astatine Calgary-based lipid shaper Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO)(CVE) said tariffs could punctual destination changes for crude connected the TransMountain system, which allows shipments of Canadian lipid to non-U.S. markets.

"We judge that request astatine the dock volition beryllium robust for folks that privation to travel and prime it up there, and instrumentality and determination it to the champion planetary location," Geoff Murray, enforcement vice-president of commercialized for Cenovus, said connected a Feb. 20 league telephone with banal marketplace analysts.