India wants more crude exports from Canada’s West Coast: Hodgson

Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said Canada's path to becoming an energy superpower runs through India. Photo by Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press files

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Canada’s path to becoming an energy superpower runs through India, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said Friday, noting that Indian refiners are seeking more Canadian crude as Ottawa looks to roughly double bilateral trade with the fast-growing economy by 2030.

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“India has the largest refining industry in the world today, and they are actively taking Canadian crude off the Gulf Coast, because that’s where they can get it in meaningful amounts today,” Hodgson said to reporters after returning from talks with industry and senior officials in Goa and New Delhi this week.

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“They were very clear with me: they would love to be able to get it off our West Coast, which has significantly shorter shipping times, which means the the economics for them are much better,” he said. “They have interest in both a potential expansion of the (Trans Mountain pipeline system) or any potential other pipeline that might develop through the efforts of Alberta as a proponent.”

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Hodgson said the two countries have agreed to cooperate on energy and critical minerals. He also re-launched high-level talks with India’s petroleum minister and met with major Indian energy companies.

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The Carney government has revived stalled trade talks with India following tensions in recent years over diplomatic and security issues.

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“We are putting what the prime minister said in Davos into action,” Hodgson said, describing recent talks as a “refresh” in the relationship between the two countries that saw roughly $23 billion in two-way trade in 2024.

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“We’re in a world where we are seeing economic integration be used by some countries as a force for coercion and tariffs as a force for leverage,” said Hodgson. “The prime minister, in his Davos speech, laid out clearly a positive path forward, and that’s around countries building new supply chains with responsible counterparties who believe in multilateralism and believe in free trade.”

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Experts say increased oil and gas exports and trade with India could be central to Canada’s plan to pivot away from the U.S.

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Hodgson noted Friday that India’s energy consumption is expected to more than double by 2040, making it a desirable long-term market for Canadian crude, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products like propane and butane.

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But India currently faces steep U.S. tariffs as a result of its imports of Russian oil.

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“Indian refineries are actively looking for new sources of raw material feedstock, be it LNG, LPG, other petrochemicals and conventional oil,” Hodgson said.

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“Canada produces roughly five to six per cent of the world’s oil today. We are selling less than one per cent of our production to India, so there’s a there’s a real opportunity.”

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The remarks come a day after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she has ruled out Kitimat, B.C. as a potential terminus for the province’s proposed new oil pipeline. Smith called it “too complex” with “too many channels” for tankers to navigate, alluding to concerns raised by coastal First Nations groups.

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Smith has said previously sending Alberta’s crude to the Port of Prince Rupert, on B.C.’s northwest coast, could be a safer option for a new pipeline.

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In his remarks to reporters Friday, Hodgson stopped short of committing Ottawa to new infrastructure and declined to comment on a potential new pipeline route.

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“The route will be decided by the proponent. The proponent is Alberta,” he said.

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