Carney said it’s “absolutely in our interest” to de-carbonise Canada’s oil and consider a new conduit to allow more crude exports without having to sell it to the United States. — Bloomberg
OTTAWA: Prime Minister Mark Carney says he sees opportunity for Canada to build a new pipeline to ship more oil to foreign markets, if it’s tied to billions in green investments to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint.
The prime minister, speaking after a summit with provincial leaders on Monday, said it’s “absolutely in our interest” to de-carbonise Canada’s oil and consider a new conduit to allow more crude exports without having to sell it to the United States, which already buys some four million barrels a day from its northern neighbour.
He said there was support around the table for creating western and northern trade corridors in Canada to help export resources, including the potential “for an oil pipeline to get to tidewater”.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose province produces most of Canada’s oil, described the broad outline of what she called a “grand bargain” during a press conference after the meeting in the western city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
That deal would include rapid approval of a new pipeline alongside large investments from Canadian oil sands companies into technology that offsets or captures planet-warming emissions.
The question is how to pay for it.
Smith said a new pipeline that would ship one million barrels a day to the west coast – which she said should be privately funded – could yield revenues of C$20bil (US$14.6bil) a year, which might also be the potential cost of a massive proposed carbon-capture project in western Canada known as Pathways.
Furthemore, Carney said there are various ways to lower the emissions of oil production.
“I agree with her,” he said of Smith’s “grand bargain” comment. — Bloomberg
