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Rongsheng uses heavy crude from the Trans Mountain Pipeline at a 800,000-barrel-a-day refinery on China’s east coast
By Robert Tuttle, Alfred Cang and Brian Platt
Rongsheng Petrochemical Co., already the biggest buyer of crude from Canada’s sole West Coast pipeline, is weighing an agreement to buy oil from Alberta’s next project, a proposed million-barrel-a-day pipeline to British Columbia, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Chinese refinery is considering a deal after Alberta approached the privately owned company about a binding contract, said the people, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak.
Rongsheng didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the Alberta energy minister’s office.
A potential deal would lessen the province’s dependence on the United States at a time when Canada-U.S. relations are increasingly strained by the Trump administration’s tariff onslaught. Such a contract could also further Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s goal of eventually doubling oil production in the province and increasing oil sales to Asia. She is seeking private sector investors to eventually take over the project.
Brian Jean, Alberta’s energy minister, said at a conference last week in Calgary that he’s spoken to “some companies in Korea and Japan” about an investment or long-term offtake agreement for the project.
At the same time, China is looking to diversify its oil sources. Rongsheng currently uses heavy crude from the Trans Mountain Pipeline at its 800,000-barrel-a-day refinery on China’s east coast. The recently expanded conduit, which runs from Alberta to the Vancouver area and started operation in 2024, is currently the only system carrying crude to Canada’s Pacific export terminal.
Alberta plans to announce project details, including the planned route, by July. The project will be subject to federal approval by October with construction starting as early as late next year. Alberta’s preferred passage to the northern B.C. coast faces stiff pushback from Indigenous groups in the area as well as the province’s Premier David Eby.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to back the new pipeline in exchange for a series of measures including a higher industrial carbon tax and the deployment of a long-planned carbon capture project in the oil sands, called Pathways, to reduce emissions.
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