U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, April 30 signed a presidential permit authorizing Bridger Pipeline’s proposed cross-border pipeline project designed to transport Canadian oil south into the U.S. As discussed in Bring Me to Life, at the center of the story is the proposed Bridger Pipeline expansion, a 36-inch crude oil transmission line (yellow dashed line in map below) that would move Canadian crude nearly 650-miles south to Guernsey, Wyoming. The project is designed to connect to existing U.S. energy infrastructure, with a revival of the partially constructed and since cancelled Keystone XL pipeline.
As discussed in Turn Me Loose, a regulatory document filed this past winter outlined plans for a 550-Mb/d pipeline, while an application filed in Montana in March noted the system is intended to ultimately be capable of adding 1.13 MMb/d of incremental capacity to Guernsey, estimated to cost around $4.5 million per mile, or about $2.9 billion.
Supporters of the project argue that it will strengthen energy security, boost economic activity, and improve oil transport efficiency between the two countries. However, the pipeline still faces significant hurdles. Although the project has been politically greenlit, it still requires additional environmental reviews and permits before construction can begin. If those clearances are granted, work could start as early as 2027, with completion by 2029.
