South Bow Corp. executives say Customers are demanding that more oil be shipped to the southern part of the company Pipeline network.
Richard Pryor, Southpaw’s chief operating officer, says recent geopolitical turmoil has increased demand for more oil exports, including via the US Gulf Coast.
South Bow operates the Keystone system that extends from eastern Alberta to refineries in the Midwest and coastal Texas.
Calgary-based South Bow Corp operates nearly 4,900 kilometers of pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Source: SouthBow.com
Throughput at Keystone during the first three months of 2026 averaged 616,000 barrels per day, with the US Gulf Coast sector averaging about 709,000 barrels per day.
The Keystone terminal on the Gulf Coast can move more than 800,000 barrels per day, but there is limited capacity to grow capacity beyond that level, Pryor says.
South Bow is in the midst of considering bids for a potential new project called the Prairie Connector, which would ship crude oil to the Canada-U.S. border and to U.S. destinations.
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The Prairie Connector could use idle pipe that was intended for the defunct Keystone XL expansion project, which was aborted amid intense environmental and political opposition several years ago.
Keystone XL was followed by TC Energy Corp, which would spin off its oil pipeline business to form South Bow in 2024.
US President Donald Trump recently granted a permit to a separate proposal from Bridger Pipeline LLC linking Wyoming to Canada.
United States borders. This pipeline can connect to the Prairie Connector.
This represents a meaningful development in the permitting process for cross-border energy infrastructure, and has understandably attracted its fair share of attention,” South Bow CEO Bevin Wierzba said.
“However, we continue to work hard to ensure that any project we take forward falls within our risk preferences and that risks are appropriately allocated among parties best placed to manage and mitigate them.”
As for what form a potential partnership might take, Wierzba said, “We’re still baking the cake based on some elements of that.”
To be comfortable making a final investment decision on Prairie Connector, Wierzba said, it would have to identify “typical elements” such as contracting strategy, supply chain, procurement and cost estimates.
But it doesn’t end there.
“We need to make sure we are managing and mitigating any last-mile risks that may occur on the project in the future,” Wierzba said.
“We are seeing great alignment between the regulatory environment in both Canada and the U.S., but we cannot expose our shareholders to risks they cannot and cannot afford.”
Late Thursday, South Bow reported first-quarter net income of $77 million, down from $88 million during the same period in 2025.
Profit amounted to 37 US cents per share, compared to 42 US cents in the previous year.
South Bow, which keeps its books in US dollars, said its revenue fell to US$491 million from US$498 million.
& Edition 2026 The Canadian Press
