Canada’s South Bow and U.S.-based Bridger Pipeline have revealed plans to work together on a new oil pipeline running from Guernsey, Wyoming, all the way to Cushing, Oklahoma, the two companies confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday.
According to the companies, the pipeline would be built along a corridor they acquired from another firm. South Bow and Bridger said their first order of business is reaching out to landowners and communities that would be affected along the planned route.
This new pipeline would function as the third and final segment of a broader initiative designed to transport crude oil from Alberta, Canada, down to the Cushing oil hub in Oklahoma.
A research report from J.P. Morgan published last week indicated that a joint venture between South Bow and Bridger had purchased the right-of-way originally belonging to the Liberty Pipeline from Tallgrass Energy. The Liberty Pipeline was a project that was previously cancelled; it had originally been intended to move oil from the Rocky Mountain region and North Dakota’s Bakken production fields to Cushing, Oklahoma. Tallgrass Energy did not respond to a request for comment, while South Bow and Bridger declined to confirm specifics about the acquisition.
The two companies have already separately proposed another pipeline — called Prairie Connector — that would run from Alberta to Guernsey, Wyoming. That project, if completed, could boost Canada’s crude oil exports to the United States by more than 12%, adding badly needed export capacity for Canadian producers.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April granting a cross-border permit for the Prairie Connector project, partially reviving the concept behind Keystone XL. Former President Joe Biden had formally cancelled the Keystone XL permit back in 2021, ending what had been the last major pipeline proposal between Canada and the United States.
While Prairie Connector would travel a different path through the U.S. than Keystone XL did, South Bow’s portion of the project would make use of roughly 150 kilometers — about 93 miles — of existing but dormant pipeline in Canada. That section would connect to Bridger’s proposed pipeline in Montana and then extend approximately 645 miles to Guernsey.
Energy analyst Matthew Lewis, founder of Plainview Energy Analytics, explained why the third leg of the project is so critical. “The third leg is an imperative piece of the overall project. There is currently no significant oil egress capacity out of that Wyoming/Colorado area to major hubs like Cushing. Thus, you need a major new build project to carry that oil from Wyoming to an oil hub,” Lewis said.
South Bow has indicated it plans to resume construction on its segment of Prairie Connector around the second quarter of 2027, with the full pipeline expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2028, according to a filing with the Canada Energy Regulator. The company announced last month that it had secured the shipper commitments necessary to move the project forward.
