{"id":137142,"date":"2025-11-17T00:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T00:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/137142\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T00:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T00:44:09","slug":"mark-carneys-energy-superpower-vision-up-against-political-hurdles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/137142\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Carney\u2019s \u2018energy superpower\u2019 vision up against political hurdles"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the outskirts of Edmonton, the Enbridge oil terminal is a maze of pipes and tanks that embodies Canada\u2019s fraught oil ambitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are gorgeous pipes,\u201d said Norman Omoth, Enbridge\u2019s terminal co-ordinator, gesturing towards North America\u2019s largest crude pipeline system that has sent rivers of Canadian oil<\/a> to the US since 1950.<\/p>\n

But the politics of what moves through those pipes is as tangled as the network itself.<\/p>\n

Canada<\/a> now supplies about 60 per cent of US oil imports, or about 4mn barrels a day. Most of it comes from the giant bitumen-rich oil sands of northern Alberta, home to the world\u2019s third-largest reserve of oil.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said these shipments, which have doubled in a decade, would generate C$147bn ($105bn) this year.<\/p>\n

While Donald Trump\u2019s punishing tariffs on Canada \u2014 the US\u2019s second-biggest trading partner \u2014 do not affect energy, they have spurred Ottawa to seek new customers.<\/p>\n

The old US-Canada trading relationship was \u201cover\u201d, Prime Minister Mark Carney said after taking office in April. <\/p>\n

\"MarkMark Carney waves to supporters at a victory party in Ottawa, Ontario on April 29 \u00a9 Dave Chan\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Once a champion of global decarbonisation, the Liberal leader now wants fossil fuels to help him buttress Canada\u2019s economy \u2014 turning the country into an \u201cenergy superpower\u201d for the Trump era. <\/p>\n

Carney has said more pipelines to boost exports are \u201chighly likely\u201d, although he is yet to announce any, and vowed to ease regulations to support more energy production. <\/p>\n

If he pulls it off, Carney will have sheltered Canada from the policies of the mercurial US president while easing frictions between Ottawa and Canada\u2019s resource-rich western provinces, and between oil companies and First Nations. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a bold move by Carney to take advantage of Canada\u2019s abundance in energy\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009to reduce the country\u2019s dependence on the United States,\u201d said Brian Rathbun, at the University of Toronto\u2019s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet what is natural economically is not easy politically since this step will generate opposition from environmental circles and indigenous rights advocates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The centrepiece of Carney\u2019s \u201cgrand bargain\u201d is his home province of Alberta, where conservative politics and suspicions of Ottawa run deep. <\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s oil sands region produces 3.5mn b\/d, the bulk of Canada\u2019s output. Extraction of the bitumen is carbon intensive and almost a third of Canada\u2019s emissions stem from its oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n

\"ACanada\u2019s oil industry says it needs more pipeline capacity \u00a9 Emily Welz\/FT<\/p>\n

As Bank of England governor, Carney warned of climate risks, and at Brookfield Asset Management he led a multibillion-dollar transition fund shifting capital away from fossil fuels. But since taking office, his own shift has been swift. <\/p>\n

Although Canada is missing its climate targets, Carney scrapped an unpopular consumer carbon tax and paused policies promoting electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

In his first budget this month, he proposed cutting the contentious emissions cap on the oil sector if the industry and western provinces beefed up their carbon pricing. The moves were viewed favourably by Canada\u2019s fossil fuel producers.<\/p>\n

However, Lisa Baiton, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said companies needed \u201cgreater clarity\u201d on climate policy before investing.<\/p>\n

Under pressure to clean up their operations, Alberta\u2019s big producers have proposed the Pathways Alliance, a $16.5bn carbon capture project to improve the environmental record of the oil sands industry. But progress has been slow while the companies and governments argue over funding.<\/p>\n

Kevin Birn, chief Canadian oil markets analyst at S&P Global, said Canada\u2019s oil supply economics \u201care attractive,\u201d but Ottawa\u2019s stance on emissions was a big unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestors are seeking to understand\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009whether an enduring path can be carved out for existing and future investment,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Another fight is over more export pipelines, especially to Canada\u2019s west coast \u2014 infrastructure the industry says is vital for any \u201cenergy superpower\u201d ambition. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo effectively use oil, Canada\u2019s only economic hard power, Carney needs to get not just one, but two pipelines built,\u201d said Adam Waterous, chief executive of Calgary\u2019s Waterous Energy Fund, a major oil sands investor. <\/p>\n

Canadian and US trade negotiators have discussed reviving the giant Keystone XL pipeline project to the US Gulf Coast that was killed by the Biden administration. Waterous urged Carney to use it as a bargaining chip to ease Trump\u2019s punishing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium and autos \u2014 and said he should back a new pipeline to the Pacific too. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy trading oil but diversifying Canada\u2019s market, Carney will return the country to a more balanced trade relationship with the US\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Previous Canadian leaders have stumbled in promoting an oil industry that accounts for about 20 per cent of the country\u2019s trade, but is concentrated in a province that has its own fringe Brexit-style movement<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke of Canada as an \u201cemerging energy superpower\u201d in 2006, but his dreams ended in a crude price crash that delayed oil-sands growth for years.<\/p>\n

Justin Trudeau, whose father Pierre Trudeau\u2019s 1980s national energy policy still sparks fury in Alberta, ploughed billions of federal dollars into buying a pipeline to the west coast \u2014 but angered the industry by focusing on climate change.<\/p>\n

\"NetworkAlmost all of the Enbridge oil terminal\u2019s production is pumped south to fuel the US economy \u00a9 Emily Welz\/FT<\/p>\n

Carney also has to consider whether the world needs more emissions-intensive heavy Canadian crude.<\/p>\n

While the International Energy Agency expects oil demand to remain strong for decades, it has also warned of a \u201csignificant supply glut\u201d. <\/p>\n

Andrew Leach, an energy economist at the University of Alberta, noted that even Canada\u2019s own producers were hesitant. \u201cThere are no pipeline proposals on the table\u201d to expand capacity, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gulf Coast market in Texas isn\u2019t what it once was for heavy crude,\u201d he added. \u201cWhether you have enough production over the long term given current price outlooks is a difficult question.\u201d All big Canadian oil producers declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s premier Danielle Smith, who wants Canada to double its oil output of 6mn b\/d, says Carney must scrap laws or restrictions such as a ban on crude tankers off northern British Columbia \u2014 key to new export routes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat good does it do to build a pipeline if you can\u2019t load the boats?\u201d she told the Financial Times.<\/p>\n

Smith is hoping for \u201cgood news\u201d on Monday with the expected announcement of a memorandum of understanding with Ottawa on a potential pipeline project. But Carney has not clearly stated his position on the matter.<\/p>\n

\"MaxEnbridge\u2019s Max Chan said the company had learned from the failure of past attempts to pipe oil to the west coast \u00a9 Emily Welz\/FT<\/p>\n

BC\u2019s premier David Eby and some local indigenous groups reject the idea and have urged Ottawa to keep the tanker ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting our coast is not a barrier to economic prosperity \u2014 it is the source of it,\u201d said Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s energy minister Tim Hodgson told the FT that a new federal law, Bill C-5, would give Ottawa final say on fast-tracking major infrastructure projects despite environmental regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a proponent brings forward a potential project, we\u2019ll deal with it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe now have the tools we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, proposals remain scant. Enbridge years ago scrapped a plan to build a line to Kitimat, in northern BC and is now focused on boosting capacity on its US lines, with no plan to build a new one, said Max Chan, head of its oil pipeline division.<\/p>\n

The existing oil export infrastructure to the west coast is the Trans Mountain system to Vancouver, which allows shipments to Asia. Justin Trudeau\u2019s government bankrolled an expansion, which came online last year at a cost of C$34bn, wildly over budget.<\/p>\n

The government-controlled Trans Mountain Corporation\u2019s boss Mark Maki has said there would be \u201cmerit\u201d in a new west-coast pipeline, but no new proposal is being discussed.<\/p>\n

\"Marilyn Slett, president of Coastal First Nations, said indigenous people opposed a pipeline and oil tankers in coastal waters \u00a9 Canadian Press\/Alamy<\/p>\n

That may leave an unlikely revival of the Keystone XL project to Texas as a plausible project.<\/p>\n

Most Canadian approvals are in place and the industry believes it would help Alberta\u2019s producers fetch higher prices for heavy oil at US Gulf Coast refineries. <\/p>\n

It would be a win for Carney in Alberta, but deepen dependence on the US. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes Canada [the] USA\u2019s oil colony instead of using our superior resources to advance our own interests and values geopolitically,\u201d said Heather Exner-Pirot of the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute.<\/p>\n

Chan said Enbridge was \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d for the sector in the Carney era. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have to source your energy from somewhere, Canada should be at the top of the list,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the outskirts of Edmonton, the Enbridge oil terminal is a maze of pipes and tanks that embodies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-137142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}