Article content

OTTAWA — The National Energy Board says Canada’s existing export pipelines are running at maximum efficiency and the only way to realistically get more oil to market through pipelines is to build more of them.

The board responded Friday to questions posed last fall by Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi, who wanted to know if there was any way to improve the efficiency of pipelines while Canada struggles to expand existing lines or get new ones built.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Getting more oil to market in Canada requires more pipelines, NEB says Back to video

“In a nutshell, pipelines are full,” said Jean-Denis Charlebois, the chief economist for the National Energy Board.

In a statement Friday, Sohi said the report confirms that Canada needs to build new pipelines.

The report says the amount of oil Canada is producing has increased while the capacity of pipelines to carry it has not. There are five pipeline projects, the report notes, that have been proposed and then cancelled or delayed in recent years. That includes the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is in limbo pending a new round of reviews after a Federal Court of Appeal ripped up cabinet approval for it last year.