Canada's oil could replace American imports of Russian crude, the top officials of the oil-producing province Alberta said this weekend.
As talks about banning Russian oil imports in the United States and its European allies intensify, reports have started to emerge that the U.S. Administration could be looking to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil or lift some sanctions on Venezuela to help fill the gap that a Russian oil embargo would open.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States and its European allies were in "very active discussions" about banning the import of Russian oil over Putin's war in Ukraine.
Even without sanctions on Russian oil, some of the biggest U.S. importers of Russian crude oil have started suspending their purchases of the commodity.
Canada has long pitched its crude as one that is not produced in rogue government regimes such as Venezuela, Iran, or Russia, and Alberta's top officials now say that its crude could be the answer to more supply from allied nations to the United States.
Retweeting Elon Musk's comments that "we need to increase oil & gas output immediately," Alberta's Energy Minister Sonya Savage said on Saturday:
"Agreed. And it should come from Alberta, home of the 3rd largest oil reserves. Alberta is the answer to US Energy security. Real emissions reductions, reliable, right next door."
Alberta's Premier Jason Kenney said that he and Savage would be attending the CERAWeek conference in Houston this week, where "We will be meeting with decision-makers to secure access to markets, attract job-creating investment to our province, and argue for Canadian energy to displace Russian conflict oil."
Kenney also said that Alberta would be delighted to welcome a visit from U.S. President Joe Biden, as one reportedly being considered to Saudi Arabia.
Kenney noted that in a visit by President Biden to Alberta "We could discuss how to ship nearly 1 million barrels of day of responsibly produced energy every day from the USA's closest friend and ally! All it would take is his approval for Keystone XL. Easy."
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
Protecting our planet is a top priority. Alberta petroleum would ideally be a lot cleaner. But taking care of some geopolitical pollution brought on by Putin is huge.
He may not even be able to complete the threat with Russia by refusing their oil. Either way the Russian oil will be marketed elsewhere. China will take everything that Russia produces. And the US will not be able to control that direction. Oil is one commodity that be traded in exchange of other things beside fiat currency. Legal or not.