Here are the top news stories covering Canada’s energy landscape:
Canadian LNG Alliance Launches
The British Columbia Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Alliance formally became the Canadian LNG Alliance (Canadian LNGA) this week to reflect the critical role of LNG for Canada’s COVID-19 economic recovery.
Bryan Cox, President and CEO of the Canadian LNG Alliance, issued a statement on the critical role of leveraging LNG to reduce global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and support the Canadian economic recovery from COVID-19:
“LNG is Canada’s opportunity. By all of us working together– governments, industry, Indigenous Nations, workers, and communities – to responsibly build an LNG industry, we can provide a significant and much-needed economic boost to our country. Importantly, through our low-emission LNG, Canada will make an outsized contribution to reducing global emissions and particulate matter, while investing in the infrastructure for our continued transition to a cleaner energy future.”
LNG projects, located in British Columbia, are anticipated to be among the world’s lowest-emitting in the world. The LNG projects will be powered partially, or entirely, by clean hydro-electric power. In their press release, the Canadian LNG Alliance states the new LNG infrastructure will help Canada achieve its net zero emissions goal even quicker:
“Continuing to develop our Canadian LNG industry will also provide the critical infrastructure to advance Canada’s net zero emissions goal, including opportunities like the evolution to hydrogen, while supporting jobs and climate action today.”
A Resurging Demand for Canadian Oil
Canadian crude that typically makes its way along the western coast of the United States has found a new destination—China. Data compiled by Bloomberg reveals that the Maria Princess oil tanker is the third to leave Vancouver’s port for Qingdao, China in less than a month.
Demand for crude oil in China has grown to almost pre-COVID levels, making Canadian crude the perfect source to fill the gap in Chinese oil supply. Bloomberg journalist Robert Tuttle suggests that China’s steadfast recovery is the best explanation for the growth in Chinese crude demand:
“Recently, those flows [crude oil to the U.S.] have been disrupted amid depressed U.S. West Coast oil consumption caused by state-ordered lockdowns that have kept drivers off the roads during the coronavirus pandemic. By contrast, China, the country that suffered first from the virus, is further along in opening back up with oil demand almost to where it was before lockdowns began earlier in the year.”
Canadian Pipeline Company Makes A Bet on Natural Gas, Renewables
The Alberta-based pipeline company Enbridge, Inc. announced it will be taking a diversified approach with its investment portfolio. Al Monaco, the Chief Executive of Enbridge, told the Financial Post it will invest more in natural gas and renewable projects:
“If you look at the energy supply/demand balance globally, we as a company kind of mirror that. We have a meaningful part of our business in renewables — the base is probably 5 per cent of our assets.”
Enbridge will continue to primarily invest in oil and natural gas. Right now, around 55 percent of the company’s revenue is generated from its LNG pipeline business, with roughly 40 percent from its gas transmission and storage business. Just over 4 percent of the company’s revenue is from renewables, which primarily consists of wind projects in Europe.
For more Canadian energy news and setting the record straight on the day’s top stories about the oil and natural gas industry, visit Canadian Energy Network.
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