Trump Signs Permit for 645-Mile Bridger Pipeline
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday granting a cross-border permit for the bridger pipeline project that would move Canadian crude from the U.S.-Canada border to Wyoming. The proposal would revive parts of Keystone XL and uses a different U.S. route than the one canceled in 2021.
The project could increase Canada’s crude exports to the U.S. by more than 12% if it goes ahead. Bridger Pipeline filed a plan with Montana regulators for a 645-mile line capable of carrying up to 550,000 bpd.
South Bow and Bridger Pipeline
The pipeline was proposed by Canadian company South Bow and its U.S. partner Bridger Pipeline. South Bow was set up in 2024 by former Keystone XL proponent TC Energy to take over its oil pipeline business.
The new proposal would use some of the pipe already built on the Canadian side, and the Keystone XL line is already fully permitted there. Trump’s order covers the cross-border permit, but state regulatory permits will also be required before the project can proceed.
Phillips County to Guernsey
Bridger Pipeline’s filing says the route would begin near the U.S.-Canada border in Phillips County, Montana, and travel to Guernsey, Wyoming. Analysts say Guernsey is not an end market for crude oil, so additional links would still be needed to move oil to refining hubs such as Cushing, Oklahoma; Patoka, Illinois; and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The project follows Biden’s cancellation of Keystone XL in 2021 after years of Indigenous and environmental opposition. Trump’s permit does not finish the job on its own; it clears one federal hurdle while leaving the route’s remaining state approvals and downstream connections in front of the project.
