TORONTO — Canada took a step Thursday toward opening a new route for its vast oil reserves to Asian markets as Prime Minister Mark Carney advanced a Pacific Coast pipeline from Alberta, seeking to reduce the country’s dependence on the U.S. while easing separatist tensions and preserving environmental protections.

Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled a proposed route through southern British Columbia, saying the project would open more Canadian oil to Asian markets while preserving a ban on oil tankers off northern British Columbia.

“The best route for a new pipeline is one that goes through one that already exists south through the Trans Mountain corridor, to our Pacific Coast, the gateway to the world’s fastest growing markets,” Carney said in Calgary.

Carney has set a goal for Canada to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade and has said a pipeline can reduce the price discount on current oil sales to U.S. markets.

The line would follow closely along a route already traversed by the Trans Mountain pipeline.

It would run from Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, to the southern British Columbia coast, delivering more than one million barrels per day to tankers and then to Asian markets.

Smith said the Alberta government is partnering with the federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation and Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline on what it calls the West Coast oil pipeline. She said what the share of the private sector stake will be remains to be seen.

“The world is asking Canada to step up and provide stable, democratic and reliable energy supply that countries around the world are looking for,” Smith said.

“This is not just another energy project. It’s a nation-building project that will unlock wealth and opportunity.”

Smith wants Alberta to double oil production to eight million barrels per day over the next 10 to 15 years.

Smith has long complained that Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, hindered the province’s energy industry and fueled separatist sentiment.

Alberta is holding a public vote in the fall on whether to hold a referendum on leaving Canada.

British Columbia and some First Nations are against a pipeline through northern British Columbia.

“The tanker ban will remain in place. We will be protecting the northern coast of British Columbia,” Carney said earlier in Vancouver.

Carney also said Thursday he will compensate British Columbia for environmental risks if a pipeline is built in the southern part of the province.

A previous memorandum of understanding Ottawa and Alberta included an adjustment of an oil tanker ban off parts of the British Columbia coast, but British Columbia Premier David Eby also said Thursday he secured a commitment to keep the northern tanker ban in place, protecting the province’s pristine northern coast.

“It ensures that the northern tanker ban remains in place,” Eby said.

Trudeau opposed a pipeline that could cross northern British Columbia and the Great Bear Rainforest. He approved one pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia southern coast, the Trans Mountain pipeline, but rejected the Northern Gateway project amid opposition from environmentalists and Indigenous communities.

Since the Trans Mountain expansion opened through the B.C. southern coast in 2024, roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of the crude shipped from Canada’s Pacific Coast has gone to Asia, helping Canada reduce its dependence on the U.S. market.

The U.S. still buys most of Canada’s crude.

Alberta holds one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and Canada is seeking greater access to Asian markets.