GOVERNMENT POLICY AND INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS

This update serves as a recap and reference point for our Members regarding the latest policy impacts on the energy market as well as industry trends. We will continue to monitor and communicate any policy changes directly to Members as they happen.

NATIONAL POLICY & RESEARCH UPDATES

The Road Ahead: Mapping a Way to NetZero Transportation in Canada

The Canadian Transportation Alliance recently released a literature review based on findings from the Fuel Institute’s latest report, “Future Capabilities of Combustion Engines and Liquid Fuels.” The review highlights research and development projects focused on improving internal combustion engine efficiency. Read “The Road Ahead: Mapping a Way to Net-Zero Transportation in Canada” here

Canada’s energy jobs transition bill sparks discord in oil heartland

In Canada’s western oil patch, controversy is raging over federal government legislation intended to help the fossil fuel labour force transition to a greener economy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is expected to table its long-awaited Just Transition bill this spring, ahead of economic changes expected as they pursue ambitious goals to slash climate-warming emissions. The government of Alberta, Canada’s main crude-producing province, says the legislation will dismantle the oil and gas industry that makes up 5 per cent of Canada’s GDP.

Oilsands execs say a ‘just transition’ isn’t a worry — it’s their next big ‘boom’

The CEOs of some of the biggest oilsands companies in Alberta say transitioning their workforce for a net-zero emissions future isn’t about cutting jobs, it’s about creating them. “We estimated that we will spend somewhere in the range of $70 billion over the next 30 years to decarbonize the production of the oilsands,” Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix says. “If we’re successful in doing that, that is going to create a boom in the oil-producing provinces that is equivalent to what happened in the ‘80s and the ‘90s.”

Oilsands companies eye $15-billion Canada fund to match Biden’s subsidies

Oilsands companies see a chance to secure a steady stream of government aid as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledges to keep Canada competitive with the massive clean-energy subsidies on offer in the US. Firms including Suncor Energy Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc. are seeking a chunk of the $15-billion Canada Growth Fund, unveiled in the government’s 2022 budget, to help fund large-scale carbon capture plans that would reduce emissions from extracting the country’s heavy oil.

Opinion: Someone tell Trudeau: Energy is now about security

Former Alberta finance minister and energy minister Ted Morton, an executive fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, writes in the Financial Post that for the rest of the world, energy security – and not climate change – is now paramount. He describes how Russia, Iran and Venezuela own almost a third of the world’s proven oil reserves, while Saudi Arabia and its sister Gulf petrostates control another almost 40 per cent, and says Canada is uniquely positioned to “help both our friends and ourselves at the same time.”