I support investment in Canadian Oil and Gas

Environmental activists are aggressively stepping up their fight calling on Canadian institutions to divest from current and future oil and gas projects. They claim the world is rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The latest International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook projects oil and gas will continue to be central to global energy supply through the coming decades, still supplying nearly half of the world’s energy in 2050.

In fact, an analysis done by Navius Research for the Public Policy Forum found that phasing out Canada’s oil and gas sector would introduce economic pain with no environmental gain. Navius estimated that a phase out would cost Canada’s economy $100 billion by 2050. This means reduced incomes and damaging Canada’s largest export.

Climate change is a global issue, and Canadian oil and gas can help.

Canada’s oil and gas industry is an environmental leader. Producers in Alberta reduced methane emissions by 44 per cent between 2014 and 2021 and are on track to surpass the target of reducing methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2025. The industry has seen great success in reducing emissions per barrel, and total oil sands emissions are expected to start decreasing before 2025, all while providing reliable, responsible energy to the country and abroad.

The Canadian oil and gas industry’s focus on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology emphasizes its commitment to emissions reduction. With five of the world’s 30 CCS projects, Canada is a global leader in technological solutions for the climate. Since 2000, CCS projects in Canada have removed over 47 million tonnes of emissions, the equivalent of taking more than 10 million cars off the road.

The world’s demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is projected to double over the next two decades. By 2025, Canada will be an LNG exporter. A 2022 study by Wood Mackenzie found that expanding Canadian LNG could reduce net emissions in Asia by 188 million tonnes per year through 2050.

Whether it is high paying jobs or the billions in tax dollars and royalties paid to governments across the country, the oil and gas industry also benefits Canadians from Vancouver Island to St. John’s.

The oil and gas sector supports nearly 600,000 jobs across the country. Last year, the industry generated $112 billion (5.4 per cent) of GDP, according to Statistics Canada.

Indigenous communities are important players in Canada’s oil and gas industry, increasingly through project ownership. Last year 39 Indigenous communities in B.C. and Alberta agreed to become equity owners of oil and gas pipelines. Communities are also investing in LNG projects and advancing CCS.

Canada can be a world energy supplier of choice. Divesting from the oil and gas industry will only hurt everyday Canadians and the world.

I therefore pledge my support for the continued investment in sustainable, responsibly produced Canadian oil and gas.