Trump Signs Pipeline Permits To Boost US–Canada Oil Flow

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump issued several pipeline permits on April 15, including one for the construction of a new pipeline to facilitate the transportation of crude oil and petroleum products between the United States and Canada, according to documents released by the White House.

The action covers four permits in total. The permit authorizing construction was issued to the Bakken Pipeline Company LP for pipeline facilities in Burke County, North Dakota. Other permits were issued for the maintenance and operation of existing pipelines at border locations in North Dakota and Michigan. The recipients of those operational permits are “Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership” and “Enbridge Pipelines (Southern Lights) L.L.C.”—both indirect subsidiaries of Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge Inc.

According to the White House documents, the permits cover transport of crude oil and petroleum products of every description—refined and unrefined—including naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas liquids, jet fuel, gasoline, kerosene, and diesel. The permits explicitly exclude natural gas subject to the Natural Gas Act.

Wednesday’s permits reflect the administration’s sweeping effort to expand America’s domestic and cross-border energy infrastructure.

At the CERAWeek energy conference March 2025 in Houston, Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said that Trump’s pledge to lower energy costs by boosting oil and natural gas production would require a corresponding increase in infrastructure investment.

“If ‘Drill, baby, drill’ is to [lower energy costs], we’re going to have to ‘Build, baby, build,’” Wright told reporters.

The Enbridge permits issued Wednesday supersede authorizations dating to 1991, 1994, and 2008, effectively reissuing and consolidating federal approval under the current administration. The cross-border pipeline landscape has grown increasingly complex in recent years—there are more than 2.6 million miles of oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing the United States, with 71 networks spanning the border with Canada, meaning they are primarily regulated under federal law and by treaties between the two countries.

Enbridge has long been a central player in that network, though not without controversy: The company confirmed in late 2024 that it had cleaned up roughly 60 percent of a nearly 70,000-gallon oil spill from one of its lines in Wisconsin.

The U.S.–Canada energy relationship has also been shadowed by tariff tensions. Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada over border security concerns, along with a reduced levy of 10 percent on Canadian oil and gas. Wednesday’s permits signal continued bilateral energy cooperation even as trade negotiations between the two countries remain active.

The permits arrive against a backdrop of years of pipeline battles between Washington and Ottawa.

Trump has pushed for the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport crude oil from Canada to the United States.

“The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built—NOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in February 2025.

The Keystone XL project was ultimately suspended on Jan. 20, 2021, when then-President Joe Biden revoked its presidential permit, citing the need to “advance environmental justice.” Biden argued the project would “not serve the U.S. national interest” based on an analysis conducted under the Obama administration citing climate risk.

Canada has been eager to expand its access to U.S. markets. Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. has been in talks with customers about expanding its Mainline pipeline network—the largest pipeline system in North America—to handle growing volumes of Canadian oil output. Canada currently sends 97 percent of its oil exports and 100 percent of its natural gas exports to the United States, leaving it with limited leverage in any trade dispute.

Wednesday’s permits are the latest step in Trump’s strategy to make North America self-sufficient in energy and a dominant exporter.