Pipelines and LNG Nearly Doubled B.C.’s Oil and Gas Output in a Decade, New Study Finds

The first measured accounting of the province’s completed energy projects shows the investment came back as production, exports and the highest-paid jobs in B.C. – and cushioned Canada when the trade war hit

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A decade of investment in natural gas production, pipelines and export terminals has made British Columbia a far larger force in Canada’s energy economy, generating record production and exports while supporting some of the country’s highest-paying jobs, according to a new study by economist Philip Cross released today by Resource Works.

The findings land in the middle of a trade war that has tested Canada’s reliance on the American market – and they explain part of how the country has withstood it. While tariff-exposed manufacturing weakened, mining – including oil and gas – expanded: the study estimates that the $16.2-billion rise in Canada’s mining output since January 2023 offset much of the $21.6-billion decline in manufacturing output over the same period.

The study, The Growing Contribution of Oil and Gas to British Columbia’s Economy, is the first to measure what the province’s completed major projects have actually delivered. Every earlier assessment, including Cross’s own, was written while LNG Canada, the Trans Mountain expansion and Coastal GasLink were still proposals or construction sites, and had to rely on forecasts and models. Enough time has now passed for Statistics Canada data to replace projection with record.

“We now have clear and incontrovertible evidence on the benefits of producing more oil and gas, building pipelines to transport this oil and gas to domestic users or export terminals, and constructing terminals to liquefy gas for shipment overseas.”
PHILIP CROSS, IN THE STUDY

Among the findings, all drawn from Statistics Canada data:

• Oil and gas engineering construction in B.C. rose from less than $5 billion in 2016 to a peak of $21.1 billion in 2023, lifting the province’s share of Canada’s oil and gas investment from under 10 per cent to about 30 per cent.
• B.C. now accounts for 59 per cent of all pipeline construction in Canada, up from less than 10 per cent in 2009.
• Real oil and gas production rose 92.2 per cent between 2015 and 2025, and B.C.’s share of Canada’s natural gas output climbed from 25.3 per cent to 37.5 per cent.
• Industry employment has more than tripled since 2001, reaching 11,328 in April 2026 at average weekly earnings of $2,755 – the highest of any industry in the province and more than double the B.C. average.
• Energy exports to China more than tripled, from $3.2 billion in 2023 to $9.7 billion in 2025, almost exactly offsetting the decline in energy exports to the United States over the same period.

The offset, the study shows, was years in the making: the export capacity that absorbed the shock was finished barely a year before the tariffs arrived.

“Canada cannot predict the next economic shock, but this trade war showed the value of having more than one engine of growth. When one engine stalled, another kicked in: energy exports to Asia replaced lost U.S. sales, and the mining boom helped carry the country through the manufacturing downturn. None of that was improvised this year. It was built – in pipelines, plants and port capacity – years before it was needed.”
STEWART MUIR, PRESIDENT AND CEO, RESOURCE WORKS

“While the federal government was calling for more development of our natural resources and a diversification of our trade away from the United States, our mining industry had for years been undertaking just such an expansion and diversification. In many ways, the government’s plan to address Trump’s trade war was based on a blueprint already existing in Canada’s mining industries.”
PHILIP CROSS, IN THE STUDY

The report frames the case as diversification, not resources instead of manufacturing – and finds that diversification is physical. It took pipelines, liquefaction plants, terminals and ports to turn Asian demand into Canadian income, and its conclusion is that Canada “needs to aggressively expand its exports of oil and gas to overseas markets.” New markets are already forming: Germany has signed for natural gas from the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project in B.C., expected to attract $30 billion in investment. International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said in June that Canada has a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to become a “real energy export superpower.”

The Growing Contribution of Oil and Gas to British Columbia’s Economy is available from Resource Works, with a media backgrounder and publication-ready charts.

About Resource Works: Resource Works is a Vancouver-based non-profit society, founded in 2014, that researches and communicates how responsible natural resource development supports Canadians’ well-being.

MEDIA CONTACT

Stewart Muir, president and CEO, Resource Works · stewart@resourceworks.com · 250-589-6747
media@resourceworks.com

Stewart Muir is available for broadcast, print, podcast and radio interviews.