The Canadian oil industry lost a vital outlet for its crude oil to flow to markets when the "Keystone XL" pipeline project extending south to the United States was canceled in 2021, but it has just secured another route for itself.

The newly expanded "Trans Mountain" pipeline began its commercial operations the day before yesterday, transporting more crude from the non-coastal areas of Alberta to the tanker docks on the Pacific Coast in British Columbia.

This was the most expensive infrastructure project in Canada's history, proposed for the first time in 12 years as a plan to expand the pipeline with a cost of 34 billion Canadian dollars (25 billion dollars), according to a report by the "Financial Times."

This was not its initial cost; after various lawsuits, several delays, and cost overruns, and the acquisition by the federal government, the final cost rose to almost five times the estimate of 7.4 billion Canadian dollars in 2017.

Now that the project is completed, the capacity of the pipeline system has nearly tripled to 890,000 barrels per day, which is more than what the "Keystone XL" project was supposed to transport.

Lisa Beaton, the CEO of the Canadian Association of Oil Producers, a lobby group, stated: "This is a significant expansion of the pipeline network in the country, and it's the first that allows direct access without the need to rely on the United States."

The federal government purchased the pipeline project for 4.5 billion Canadian dollars in 2018 from "Kinder Morgan" when the American energy infrastructure company threatened to cancel it in the face of protests and lawsuits aimed at preventing construction.