The Financial Post reports in its Friday, Aug. 2, edition that Canada's biggest oil companies tasted the benefits of the country's newest oil pipeline for the first time last quarter. The Post's Naimul Karim writes that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX), which officially opened on May 1 and connects Alberta and British Columbia, has helped Canada's oil producers get better prices and reduced the price differential between Canadian and U.S. oil. Cenovus's Geoff Murray says, "We have been provided a relatively exciting access to the globe and that's had its impact back into Alberta." He says that the difference in pricing between U.S. and Canadian oil decreased by about $6 (U.S.) in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. The decline cannot entirely be attributed to TMX, but he says the new pipeline has played its part. The differential, though, did get wider by "a dollar or two" after the second quarter due to refinery outages, but Mr. Murray expects the TMX will have a positive impact in Alberta in the long run. Cenovus says the TMX will generate a huge amount of revenue for Canadians through royalties and tax dollars and improve the standard of living.