 | |||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
Canada losing billions annually by undervaluing oil, but new export capacity could soon reverse the losses
Winnipeg – TheNewswire – April 24, 2025 — Canadians can now track in real time how much revenue the country is forfeiting to the United States by selling its oil at discounted prices, thanks to a new online tracker from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. The tracker displays the billions in revenue lost due to limited distribution access for Canadian oil.
At a time of economic troubles and commercial tensions with the United States, selling our oil at a discount to U.S. middlemen who then sell it in the open markets at full price will rob Canada of nearly $20 billion this year, said Marco Navarro-Genie, the VP of Research at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Navarro-Genie led the team that designed the counter.
The gap between world market prices and what Canada receives is due to the lack of Canadian infrastructure.
According to a recent analysis by Ian Madsen, senior policy analyst at the Frontier Centre, the lack of international export options forces Canadian producers to accept prices far below the world average. Each day this continues, the country loses hundreds of millions in potential revenue. This is a problem with a straightforward remedy, said David Leis, the Centre’s President. More pipelines need to be approved and built.
While the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline has helped, more is needed. It commenced commercial operations on May 1, 2024, nearly tripling Canada’s oil export capacity westward from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels daily. This expansion gives Canadian oil producers access to broader global markets, including Asia and the U.S. West Coast, potentially reducing the price discount on Canadian crude.
If producers could secure even $10 more per barrel by accessing international buyers, Canada could gain an additional $5.9 million daily, nearly $2.15 billion annually.
“The losses are not theoretical numbers,” said Madsen. “This is real money, and Canadians can now see it slipping away, second by second.”
The Frontier Centre urges policymakers and industry leaders to recognize the economic urgency and ensure that infrastructure projects like TMX are fully supported and efficiently utilized to maximize Canada’s oil export potential. The webpage hosting the counter offers several examples of what the lost revenue could buy for Canadians. A similar counter for gas revenue lost through similarly discounted gas exports will be added in the coming days.
Media Contact
Marco Navarro-Genie, PhD
Vice President of Research and Policy
Frontier Centre for Public Policy
mng@fcpp.org
About the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an independent Canadian think-tank that conducts research and analysis on public policy issues, including energy, economics and governance.
Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
