FORT COLLINS, COLO. — President Donald Trump granted approval Thursday for the Bridger Pipeline Expansion, authorizing the project to cross the border between Saskatchewan and northeastern Montana. The project still requires additional state and federal environmental approvals before construction can begin.

The 650-mile pipeline would be three feet wide and carry up to 550,000 barrels of oil per day from the Canadian border through eastern Montana and Wyoming, where it would link with another pipeline. At peak volume, it would move two-thirds as much oil as the Keystone XL pipeline, a comparison that has led to its informal nickname "Keystone Light." The permit also authorizes transportation of gasoline, kerosene, diesel and liquified petroleum gas in addition to crude oil.

Trump approved the Keystone XL project in 2020. President Joe Biden canceled that pipeline's permit on January 20, 2021, citing climate-change concerns. The province of Alberta had invested more than $1 billion in the Keystone XL project.

Bridger Pipeline LLC, based in Casper, Wyoming, operates more than 3,700 miles of gathering and transmission pipelines in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. More than 70% of the new pipeline would be built within existing pipeline corridors, and 80% would be built on private land. The route would not cross any Native American reservations.

The company plans to bore 30 to 40 feet beneath major rivers, including the Yellowstone and Missouri, to reduce accident risks, spokesperson Bill Salvin said. He said the company has developed an AI-driven leak detection system that provides faster notification when there are problems. "We designed the pipeline with integrity and safety in mind. We have emergency response plans should something happen where oil happens to get out of the line, which is fairly rare," Salvin said. He said construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2027 and finish by late 2028 or early 2029.

The Montana Environmental Information Center and WildEarth Guardians opposed the project. "Pipelines rupture and leak. It's just a fact of pipelines," attorney Jenny Harbine said.

True Companies subsidiaries have been involved in multiple spills in the region. In 2015, a True Companies subsidiary spilled more than 50,000 gallons of crude into the Yellowstone River, fouling a Montana city's drinking water supply. In 2016, a True Companies subsidiary spilled more than 600,000 gallons of crude in North Dakota, contaminating the Little Missouri River and a tributary. Subsidiaries of True Companies agreed to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty to settle a government lawsuit over the North Dakota and Montana spills. In 2022, a True Companies subsidiary spilled 45,000 gallons of diesel in Wyoming.