Canada might increase its gas and oil exports to Europe by 300,000 barrels per day by the end of the year to meet the dire needs of countries seeking to end their dependence on Russian resources .
This announcement comes as the Federal Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkison, is in Paris to meet his partners within the framework of the ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“It’s not huge compared to what we already produce,” said a source familiar with the matter, since it is an increase of regarding 5% in total oil exports.
“We are doing what we can with existing infrastructure because the need is short term and Europe needs oil and gas as quickly as possible,” adding that some countries dealing with Russia are “worried” regarding no longer being able to obtain energy during the next few months.
She indicated that several countries have repeatedly made it clear that they are looking for an alternative and that Canada is well placed to respond to their requests. However, these countries would not have “pressured” Canada.
“Our friends and allies in Europe need Canada and other countries to step up. They tell us they need our help to get off Russian oil and gas now while accelerating the continental energy transition. Canada is particularly well placed to help on these two issues,” Minister Wilkinson said in a press release on Thursday.
“We will do everything we can to help our European colleagues and friends. Like them, we believe that we must obviously tackle the dependence on Russian oil and gas while continuing to fight once morest climate change”, for his part declared the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault.
The government cannot publicly confirm the increase in exports at this stage since the decision would be up to the energy companies, but, unsurprisingly, “there is interest in taking part in this”.
In the same vein, Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday the creation of a Canada-European Union working group whose objective will be to “deepen cooperation on energy security”.
The European Union (EU) is considering an embargo on Russian oil.
At the same time, Canada announced $8 million for the IEA’s Clean Energy Transition Program to help emerging economies accelerate their energy transition while meeting their energy needs.
In Canada, carbon emissions from the oil and gas sector have increased by 20% since 2005 and represent 26% of total emissions.
Last year, the Trudeau government announced that it wanted to reduce GHGs by 40 to 45% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, without detailing how it intended to reach this target, which is lower than that of the European Union and the United States.
Oil prices rose above the $120 a barrel threshold on Wednesday, boosted by the prospect of new sanctions once morest Russia, falling US stocks and damage to a Russian oil terminal.
– With Agence France-Presse
