China turns to Alberta oil as U.S. trade war deepens

China is turning away from U.S. oil and ramping up imports of Canadian crude, marking a major shift in global energy flows that could benefit Alberta’s oilpatch, despite years of Liberal obstruction.

Source: Facebook

China is turning away from U.S. oil and ramping up imports of Canadian crude, marking a major shift in global energy flows that could benefit Alberta’s oilpatch, despite years of Liberal obstruction to the sector.

According to Bloomberg, Chinese refiners have slashed U.S. oil purchases by roughly 90 per cent in recent months while setting new records for Canadian imports. In March alone, 7.3 million barrels were shipped from Canada’s Pacific coast to China, a figure expected to grow further this month.

Conversely, Chinese oil imports from the U.S. have fallen from 29 million barrels in June to 3 million barrels monthly.

Bloomberg said the turning point came after the Trans Mountain Expansion project opened last May, increasing Albertan oil sent to British Columbia’s Pacific coast and expanding access to Alberta’s oilsands for Asian buyers.

The publication added that U.S. President Donald Trump accelerated the trend by initiating a trade war against China.

“Given the trade war, it’s unlikely for China to import more U.S. oil,” said Wenran Jiang, president of the Canada-China Energy & Environment Forum, in an interview with Bloomberg. “They are not going to bank on Russian alone or Middle Eastern alone. Anything from Canada will be welcome news.”

China still imports more oil from Russia and the Middle East than from North America. Still, Canadian oil sands provide cheap and quality crude oil that China’s refineries can process, while reducing China’s reliance on coal and other climate-damaging energy sources.

The surge in Canadian oil exports comes amid rising scrutiny of Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s anti-oil stance and ties to China.

“So it would appear Carney is now just fine with Canada continuing to be 100% reliant on the United States to purchase all of our oil and gas,” wrote Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in a recent post to X. “This is absurd, irrational, and anti-Canadian in every respect.”

Carney had previously told Smith he opposed Bill C-69, dubbed the “no more pipelines” bill, only to reverse course later and defend it. He also flip-flopped on supporting an oil and gas production cap, changing his position within days.

“This has been the same story for the last 10 years,” said Smith. “Liberals come to Alberta—smile for the cameras—tell everyone how much they are going to work with Alberta and support the energy sector. Then they leave, go home, and proceed to do everything in their power to roadblock and scare away investment from the energy sector.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been condemning Carney’s inconsistent energy positions and foreign entanglements for years.

“It’s a double standard,” said Poilievre at a 2021 committee hearing. “You make billions of dollars off foreign pipelines, and you shut them down here at home, putting our people out of work.”

He also accused the Liberal leader of being the beneficiary of Chinese election interference.

“Beijing has interfered both in the Liberal leadership race—helping Mark Carney—and again in the general election to support Mr. Carney,” said Poilievre. “The government in Beijing is actively interfering to campaign on behalf of Mr. Carney.”

Photos of Carney meeting with Beijing-linked groups later appeared online, despite his denial of ever meeting them. Chinese-state media has also tried to boost the Chinese diaspora’s view of Carney on WeChat in a coordinated campaign tracked by Canada’s election interference task force.

“He is conflicted. He continues to have financial interests in foreign hostile regimes, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, while he is prime minister of Canada,” said Poilievre of Carney. “That is the real foreign interference that we should be worried about. And, it is the foreign interference that I will end after the lost Liberal decade. They have turned this country into a playground for foreign interference.”