Alberta’s Danielle Smith says Maduro capture outlines urgency of West Coast pipeline

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the American capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro underlines the urgency of building oil pipelines to export Canadian oil to new markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump sent political shock waves around the world with the weekend military raid, saying Washington aimed to seize the South American country’s oil reserves for American companies to exploit.

“Recent events surrounding Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro emphasize the importance that we expedite the development of pipelines to diversify our oil export markets,” said Smith in a Monday statement.

That includes a new pipeline to British Columbia’s West Coast to reach markets in Asia, she said.

In November, Smith signed an agreement with Prime Minister Mark Carney paving the way to a potential Indigenous co-owned bitumen pipeline and to claw back environmental policies standing in the way, including the B.C. tanker ban.

The deal aims for Alberta and Ottawa to agree on an industrial carbon price by April 1 and sets a July 1 deadline for a pipeline proposal to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office.

Smith said her government is continuing its work to submit that application and expects the federal government to move forward “with urgency.”

“Alberta supports building pipelines in all directions to get our product to market and we look forward to continuing to work with provincial and federal partners to advance these projects,” Smith said.

The premier’s comments echo that of many commentators and industry experts who argued Trump’s military strike bolsters Alberta’s case for building more export capacity with a pipeline to the Pacific.

On Monday, shares in Canada’s biggest oilsands producers came under pressure, with the TSX energy subindex down more than three per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2026.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press