President Donald Trump authorized a significant new cross-border oil pipeline on Thursday that would transport Canadian crude oil into the United States for processing and export.
The Bridger Pipeline Expansion, measuring three feet in diameter, is designed to transport as much as 550,000 barrels of oil daily from the Montana-Canada border through eastern Montana and Wyoming, where it would connect to existing pipeline infrastructure.
Before construction can begin, the project must secure additional environmental permits from state and federal agencies. Company representatives anticipate breaking ground next year, though environmental advocates are working to block the development due to concerns about potential ruptures and oil spills.
When operating at full capacity, the 650-mile pipeline would transport roughly two-thirds the volume of the well-known Keystone XL pipeline, which President Joe Biden terminated on his first day in office in 2021 due to climate change considerations.
“Slightly different from the last administration. They wouldn’t sign a pipeline deal. And we have pipelines going up,” Trump remarked following his approval of the cross-border permit for the Bridger Pipeline Expansion.
During his initial presidency, Trump had approved the Keystone XL project in 2020 despite opposition from Native American tribes concerned about spill risks and environmental organizations worried about fossil fuel impacts on climate change.
Biden’s decision to revoke the Keystone XL permit disappointed Canadian leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, particularly after Alberta had invested over $1 billion in the venture.
Dubbed “Keystone Light” by some, the Bridger Pipeline Expansion would not traverse any Native American tribal lands. According to Bridger Pipeline LLC, more than 70% of the route would utilize existing pipeline corridors, with 80% crossing private property.
The Casper, Wyoming-headquartered company manages over 3,700 miles of oil gathering and transmission pipelines across North Dakota and Montana’s Williston Basin and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.
As a subsidiary of True Companies, Bridger Pipeline could potentially avoid future administrative reversals by completing construction before Trump’s term concludes. The company aims to begin construction in fall 2027 and complete the project by late 2028 or early 2029, according to Bridger spokesperson Bill Salvin.
Trump’s current term concludes on January 20, 2029.
True Company subsidiaries have been involved in several significant pipeline incidents, including a 2015 spill of more than 50,000 gallons of crude into the Yellowstone River that contaminated a Montana community’s water supply, a 45,000-gallon diesel leak in Wyoming in 2022, and a 2016 incident that released over 600,000 gallons of crude in North Dakota, polluting the Little Missouri River and a tributary.
True subsidiaries agreed to a $12.5 million civil penalty to resolve federal litigation related to the North Dakota and Montana incidents.
Salvin explained that the company has implemented an artificial intelligence-powered leak detection system for faster problem identification. The project also includes plans to drill 30 to 40 feet below major waterways like the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers to minimize accident risks. The 2015 incident involved a pipeline built in a shallow riverbed trench.
“We designed the pipeline with integrity and safety in mind. We have emergency response plans should something happen where oil happens to get out of the line, which is fairly rare,” Salvin stated.
Opposition groups include the Montana Environmental Information Center and WildEarth Guardians.
“The biggest concern we see right now is the concern inherent in all pipeline projects which is the risk of spills,” said attorney Jenny Harbine with environmental law firm Earthjustice. “Pipelines rupture and leak. It’s just a fact of pipelines.”
