BC Ferries Heads to $1.3-Billion Deal with US-Owned Fuel Supplier

At a time when British Columbia Premier David Eby is championing buying Canadian, BC Ferries may be preparing to enter a multi-year agreement to buy fuel from an American-owned company with strong ties to U.S. President Donald Trump and the governing Republicans.

Under a request for proposals that closed in February, the B.C. government-owned ferry corporation sought bids for a single proponent to supply fuel starting Oct. 1 for up to eight and a half years.

BC Ferries spends about $150 million a year on fuel, an amount expected to rise, making the agreement worth at least $1.3 billion and possibly much more.

It has not publicly announced the results of the competition and declined to confirm the current supplier, Parkland Corp., is the successful proponent.

“The fuel supply procurement is currently in the final stages of the process, with contract finalization and approvals underway,” a spokesperson said. “Once the process is complete, notification will be provided through BC Bid and we’ll be able to provide further details at that time.”

Parkland, which is based in Alberta and has supplied fuel to BC Ferries for many years, sold last year for US$9.1 billion to Sunoco LP, a large U.S. fuel distribution company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Sunoco is in turn controlled by Energy Transfer LP, whose co-founder and executive chairman, Kelcy Warren, is a major financial supporter of President Trump.

Following the purchase, Sunoco reportedly laid off hundreds of Parkland’s Canadian employees, including many senior managers.

Eby, who launched B.C. into a snap election last week, has spoken repeatedly about the importance of government entities, including BC Ferries, buying from Canadian suppliers.

In his Sept. 18 speech at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver, Eby announced: “I will be directing BC Ferries to ensure that the next generation of BC Ferries vessels will be built right here in British Columbia.”

The government received wide criticism last year for a BC Ferries decision to enter a $1.6-billion deal to build four new ferries in China with the support of a $1-billion loan from the federal government’s Canada Infrastructure Bank.

In recent months a coalition of unions had pressed for a commitment to build vessels in British Columbia in future.

“These ferries are going to be built by B.C. workers, because when B.C. makes major infrastructure investments, British Columbians should benefit,” Eby said to cheers at the convention. “The goal is simple: more jobs, more markets, more opportunities to build a good life in British Columbia and a strong future for all British Columbians. The way to prosperity is not to give in to a bully.”

In the same speech, he said: “BC Ferries now uses 100 per cent B.C. eggs, and 60 per cent of all of the food you find on BC Ferries comes directly from British Columbia.”

The Tyee’s efforts to ask Eby about BC Ferries’ fuel contract have so far been unsuccessful.

Eric McNeely, president of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, said it’s unclear how much sway Eby has with BC Ferries, which is set up with a quasi-private structure where it is owned by the government but not directly controlled by it as a Crown corporation would be. Regardless, he said, the company should buy Canadian whenever possible, including when it is sourcing fuel. “From a labour point of view, that makes a lot of sense to us.”

According to the 64-page bid document, “This RFP identifies a business opportunity for the selected proponent to supply marine diesel, biodiesel, and aqueous urea solution to the BC Ferries vessel fleet, terminal operations and commercial services division.”

The initial term of the agreement would be 4.5 years, which BC Ferries could extend for two additional terms of two years each.

McNeely said he estimates it will be worth about $200 million a year.

The union is expecting Parkland to win the contract but has not had that confirmed, he said. “Looking at supply chains and where they link and who’s really benefiting is important.”

Warren and Energy Transfer reportedly donated $25 million in the first half of 2025 to MAGA Inc., the large super PAC supporting Trump.

According to Greenpeace USA, which has looked in detail at the relationship between Trump and Warren, “Warren frequently contributes to other federal and state politicians, but Trump and his associated campaign groups have been among the largest recipients.”

ABC News reported that ahead of his first term, Trump himself had as much as $1 million invested in Energy Transfer.

Trump’s energy secretary in his first term, Rick Perry, resigned from the board of Energy Transfer when Trump appointed him, then returned to it after Trump left office in 2020. Perry remains on the company’s board.

Eby made standing up to Trump, protecting British Columbians and building a stronger province the main theme of the NDP election campaign’s first week.

He talked last week about the guideline to the government’s Crown corporations to use more B.C. and Canadian products when possible.

“In the period from when we issued that guideline to Crown corporations, they reduced by 30 per cent the amount of procurement from U.S. firms and replaced that with Canadian procurement,” he said. “That means hundreds of millions of dollars going to Canadian firms, Canadian employees, Canadian opportunities, opportunities for British Columbians.”

A re-elected NDP government would go a step further and require that B.C. and Canadian products be used in every single infrastructure project, Eby said. “This will be a legislated requirement that where there’s a Canadian supplier within the bid range of a competing American bid, that the Crown corporation must use that company.”

The government, he said, would lead by example.

Eby was asked Monday about his clothing choices during the campaign, which have included U.S. and Swedish brands.

“I'm not perfect in this, none of us is, but I'll tell you this: whenever we get a chance, and as a directive of government, I will ensure we're buying Canadian, that we're buying British Columbian, and that we are our own best customer,” he said.

Whether that extends to BC Ferries buying fuel from a Canadian supplier without the current one’s connections to Trump remains to be seen.