Trans Mountain Pipeline Hits 890,000-Bpd Full Capacity as China Takes 200,000 Barrels Per Day of Alberta Crude

Trans Mountain Corporation's 890,000-barrel-per-day pipeline system reached full throughput capacity in June 2026 for the first time since the Trans Mountain Expansion project began operations on May 1, 2024. The pipeline carried more demand than it could accommodate this month, according to CEO Mark Maki. China now accounts for more than 200,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude flows through the system, making it the dominant customer on the expanded line.

China's Share of Trans Mountain Daily Flow

China's 200,000-barrel-per-day intake from Trans Mountain equates to 22.5% of the pipeline's full 890,000-bpd capacity. China became Canada's largest crude customer in 2025, displacing the United States as the primary buyer of Alberta barrels exported via the Pacific route. Tankers loading at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia, carry Alberta crude directly to Asian buyers on direct Pacific shipping routes.

The Middle East conflict has accelerated China's shift toward Canadian supply. With the Strait of Hormuz closed to commercial tankers since late February 2026, Gulf-sourced heavy crude has been effectively unavailable to Asian buyers. Trans Mountain's Burnaby terminal provides a direct Pacific loading point for Alberta heavy crude that now competes for the market share previously held by Saudi and Iraqi grades.

Crown Corporation Ownership and Government Stakes

Trans Mountain Corporation is a Crown corporation owned entirely by the Government of Canada through the Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV). Ottawa acquired the pipeline and expansion project from Kinder Morgan Canada in August 2018 for C$4.5 billion to C$4.7 billion. Full-capacity utilization converts that infrastructure investment into a direct metric for federal return on capital, as throughput fees flow to Trans Mountain Corp. and ultimately to the Crown.

Capacity Additions in Progress

Trans Mountain announced an open season in late May to add 72,000 barrels per day of committed space on top of the current 890,000-bpd base. The corporation also expects to unlock an additional 90,000 barrels per day through anti-drag agent optimization, a flow-improvement technique that reduces internal friction losses without new pipe. Combined, those two increments would push usable throughput above one million barrels per day before any major construction begins.

Maki has indicated a long-term target of 1.2 million barrels per day by 2029, a 34.8% increase over the current rated capacity. The expansion path relies on open seasons and engineering improvements rather than new pipeline construction, which reduces both capital cost and regulatory risk. Reaching 1.2 million bpd would quadruple the pipeline's original pre-expansion throughput of 300,000 barrels per day.

WCS Differential and the Egress Constraint

Western Canadian Select crude carried a discount near $16 per barrel below WTI in Hardisty trading, per AER pricing data. Full utilization of Trans Mountain's 890,000-bpd capacity narrows the pipeline egress bottleneck that has historically pressured WCS to trade at wide discounts to WTI. If the open-season additions fill, the incremental 72,000 bpd of new space reduces the supply overhang that depresses WCS prices in the Alberta system.

Oil Authority has tracked the WCS discount's recent moves, noting that the Hormuz closure briefly narrowed the spread to $12.10 per barrel before it widened back to approximately $16. Trans Mountain's full utilization creates a ceiling on how much egress improvement can narrow the differential until the open-season volumes come online and the 2029 expansion materializes. That three-year gap means Alberta production growth could outpace available pipe capacity before the 1.2-million-bpd target is reached.

Alberta's Parallel Pacific Pipeline Bid

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith plans a July 1 federal submission for a second oil sands pipeline to the British Columbia coast with capacity of one million barrels per day. That project, if approved and built, would add a parallel Pacific route that could absorb Alberta production growth that Trans Mountain's expansion alone cannot handle before 2029. Together, Trans Mountain at 1.2 million bpd and a second 1-million-bpd line would give Alberta roughly 2.2 million bpd of Pacific export capacity, a figure that would permanently close the structural basis for the chronic WCS discount.