Canada is upping oil flows to Asia, but South-east Asia’s refineries aren’t ready to handle them yet
Although shipments have been limited to Singapore and Brunei, potential lies in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam
[SINGAPORE] Canada is ramping up its oil exports to Asia as the Middle East conflict disrupts energy flows, but South-east Asia’s refineries are finding that incompatible infrastructure is preventing them from readily tapping this new supply.
Ottawa’s diversification of oil exports to Asia follows the completed expansion of Canada’s state-owned Trans Mountain pipeline in 2024. Prior to that, the Canadian crude was exported primarily to the US.
In 2025, Canada’s non-US crude exports surged to C$10 billion (US$7.2 billion), averaging roughly 430,000 barrels a day, up from “effectively zero”, noted Barrett Bingley, Asia regional director at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
