Trump Approves Bridger Pipeline Expansion

President Donald Trump approved a major cross-border oil pipeline project on Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, paving the way for the transport of up to 550,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Canada into the United States.

The Bridger Pipeline Expansion, developed by Casper, Wyoming-based Bridger Pipeline LLC, a subsidiary of True Companies, would span 650 miles from the Canadian border near Montana through eastern Montana and Wyoming before connecting to an existing line. The three-foot-wide pipeline would operate at peak capacity equivalent to two-thirds the volume of the Keystone XL project. Company officials anticipate construction beginning in fall 2027, with completion targeted for late 2028 or early 2029, ahead of Trump's term ending on January 20, 2029. The project still requires additional state and federal environmental permits.

Bridger Pipeline operates more than 3,700 miles of gathering and transmission lines in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. More than 70 percent of the new route would follow existing pipeline corridors, with 80 percent on private land, avoiding Native American reservations.