Trans Mountain Heavy Crude Exports Rise 39% to 441,000 Bpd as the System Runs at 96% and the WCS Discount Widens

The Trans Mountain pipeline delivered about 441,000 barrels per day of Canadian heavy crude to its Westridge marine terminal in June 2026, up 39% from about 318,000 barrels per day a year earlier, according to Canada Energy Regulator throughput data. The system ran at 96.2% of available capacity in June, leaving little room for more barrels as the discount on Western Canada Select widened to US$24.96 below WTI on Oct. 15.

CER Data Show Trans Mountain at 96.2% of Capacity in June

CER data show Trans Mountain moved about 866,000 barrels per day in June, against available capacity of about 899,000 barrels per day. Utilization was 78.6% in June 2025, rose to 93.7% in October 2025 and 96.4% in November, and reached 98.8% in April 2026, Oil Authority calculations from CER data. Throughput dipped to about 641,000 barrels per day in February 2026, the lowest month in the past year.

The mix of shippers has also shifted. Committed volumes averaged about 758,000 barrels per day in June, while uncommitted, or spot, volumes reached about 108,000 barrels per day, compared with about 9,000 barrels per day a year earlier. Rising spot shipments suggest that shippers without long-term contracts are competing for the remaining space.

Trans Mountain Deliveries to Westridge, Sumas and Burnaby

Of June's deliveries, Westridge received about 529,000 barrels per day for export by tanker, including about 88,000 barrels per day of light crude. Sumas, the delivery point to Washington State, took about 238,000 barrels per day, including about 22,000 barrels per day of heavy crude, a stream the CER data did not show at Sumas in June 2025. Meanwhile, Burnaby received about 98,000 barrels per day of light crude and refined products for the British Columbia market.

Heavy barrels loading at Westridge reach Pacific buyers without passing through the U.S. Gulf Coast. That outlet matters more when, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its October Short-Term Energy Outlook, record tanker rates and longer routes are adding to delivered crude costs elsewhere.

CER publishes the data monthly with a lag of several months, so the June figures are the most recent available. They predate the latest widening in the WCS discount, but they show how little room the system had heading into the autumn.

Alberta Puts the WTI-WCS Differential at US$24.96

Alberta Treasury Board and Finance reported the WTI-WCS differential at US$24.96 per barrel on Oct. 15, up from US$24.69 a week earlier, with front-month WTI at US$97.97. The differential averaged US$15.94 for the province's fiscal year to date. The Alberta Energy Regulator said the 2025 average of US$11.14 reflected the additional takeaway capacity provided by the expanded Trans Mountain line, and that it expects the differential to widen modestly in 2026 as record oil sands output fills that capacity.

At US$24.96, every 100,000 barrels per day of WCS-priced crude realizes about US$2.5 million a day less than WTI, or about US$911 million a year, Oil Authority calculations. Our Oct. 19 WCS report compares the spread with Alberta's fiscal forecast.

U.S. Crude Imports From Canada Rise to 3.90 Million Bpd

With the West Coast route near capacity, more barrels move south. The EIA said U.S. crude imports from Canada rose to 3.902 million barrels per day in the week ended Oct. 16 from 3.751 million, about two-thirds of total U.S. crude imports. Our EIA inventory report has the full weekly balance.

Tamarack Contracts Trans Mountain and South Bow Prairie Connector Space

Producers are contracting for more egress. Tamarack Valley Energy said in its Sept. 8 release that it has secured 25,000 barrels per day of Trans Mountain service expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027, subject to completion of a drag reducing agent expansion, and 10,000 barrels per day on the proposed South Bow Prairie Connector to Cushing and the U.S. Gulf Coast. The AER said it does not expect the differential to widen beyond 2026 as more pipeline capacity comes online.

Alberta WCS Update on Oct. 23 and Next CER Throughput Release

Alberta's weekly indicators report on Oct. 23 will update the WTI-WCS differential. The CER's next monthly throughput release will show whether Trans Mountain held near full capacity through the summer, and whether spot volumes kept rising.