Strathcona proposes a rail-fed crude export terminal at Prince Rupert
The company is pitching a route for up to 250,000 barrels a day, but it would need Ottawa to address the North Coast tanker moratorium and remains an unapproved proposal.
- Publish date: 2026-10-22
- Category: Oil & Gas
- Original source: World Oil (Bloomberg reporting)
- Reading time: 3 min read
A proposal built around rail and a new port terminal
Strathcona Resources chairman Adam Waterous told Bloomberg that the company wants to approach the federal government with a proposal to move crude by rail to a marine export terminal that has not yet been built in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The proposed facility could handle as much as 250,000 barrels per day, with shipments intended for overseas buyers.
Waterous said the company believes exports could begin in less than two years. That is the company’s proposed timetable, not a construction schedule or government forecast: no terminal has been approved, built, or authorized to load crude. Strathcona has not yet submitted a formal application, and the outline remains an early-stage commercial pitch.
World Oil (Bloomberg reporting)
The tanker moratorium is the central policy hurdle
The route would not require a new cross-province crude pipeline, but it would still depend on marine loading at the northern British Columbia coast. Canada’s Oil Tanker Moratorium Act bars large tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes of crude or persistent oil from loading or unloading at ports in the covered North Coast area. The proposal therefore needs a legal pathway through or around that restriction.
Ottawa has not announced an exemption or a change in policy. The federal government and British Columbia reiterated their support for keeping the North Coast tanker ban in July, while a separate proposed Pacific Link pipeline is aimed at a southern B.C. terminal. Those existing decisions frame the politics but do not decide Strathcona’s new proposal.
World Oil (Bloomberg reporting)
Export diversification and local concerns
The company is presenting the terminal as a way to reach Asian markets and reduce Canada’s dependence on U.S. buyers, which take about 90% of Canadian oil exports. Strathcona already moves as much as 80,000 barrels per day of its own and other producers’ crude by rail to the U.S. Gulf Coast through terminals in Saskatchewan and Alberta. That experience shows an existing rail business, not proof that the proposed Prince Rupert corridor is ready.
The pitch faces opposition from British Columbia Premier David Eby, environmental groups and coastal Indigenous communities. Concerns include tanker traffic and spill risk along sensitive waters. Waterous said the company would seek Indigenous partnerships, but the article reports no agreements, community consent, route design, financing package or environmental review.
World Oil (Bloomberg reporting)
What would have to happen next
Strathcona said it expected to contact the federal government as early as the following week. Further steps would include defining the terminal site and rail route, engaging affected First Nations and local communities, establishing marine safety and spill-response plans, and obtaining regulatory approvals. A change to the tanker moratorium could require a legal or policy decision; the source does not establish which route the company will pursue.
The project’s stated capacity is a proposal, not new export capacity available today. Until a formal application, approvals, financing, construction and commercial arrangements are in place, the near-term significance is that an oil producer has raised a northern-coast alternative to a pipeline-led export route. The timeline, costs and eventual volumes remain uncertain.