Alberta to oppose ban of oil, gas exports to the US: provincial premier

The Alberta government will oppose any move to ban oil and gas exports from the province to the US, even as Ottawa keeps all options open for a "robust" response to the likelihood of a 25% tariff being imposed by the new US administration on all Canadian goods, the nation's top politicians and policymakers said Jan. 15.

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chaired a meeting of provincial and territorial premiers in Ottawa Jan. 15 to arrive at a common strategy to deal with the impacts of the planned tariff.

"There will be measured but robust ways to the American actions whatever they are," Trudeau told reporters on a webcast. "We can't know definitively what our response will be until we know what the Americans are going to decide what they are going to do. But we continue to hope they realize that tariffs on goods coming into the US from Canada is an extra tax on consumers and will raise prices for consumers in the US. It is not something we want and remain united in wanting to move forward to ensure these tariffs don't happen."

A retaliatory response from Canada could potentially include a pull back on energy exports that include crude oil and natural gas from Alberta and Saskatchewan and hydro-electric power from Ontario and Quebec, Ontario's premier Doug Ford said on the same webcast.

"Country comes first before anything and we will use every tool in our toolbox to fight these tariffs," Ford said.

Alberta lays out its stance

The Alberta Premier Danielle Smith didn't attend the Ottawa meeting of all premiers, and no reasons were immediately available for her absence.

"The federal government officials continue to publicly and privately float the idea of cutting off energy supply to the US and imposing export tariffs on Alberta energy and other products to the US," Smith said late Jan. 15 in a statement. "Until these threats cease, Alberta will not be able to fully support the federal government's plan in dealing with the threatened tariffs."

"Alberta will simply not agree to export tariffs on our energy or other products, nor do we support a ban on exports of these same products. We will take whatever actions are needed to protect the livelihoods of Albertans from such destructive federal policies," she said.

"We also urge our entire nation to use this tariff threat as an opportunity to correct the misguided direction of this country and commence multiple infrastructure projects that focus on developing, upgrading and exporting our oil, gas and other natural resources, instead of effectively landlocking them and keeping us fully reliant on one primary customer," Smith said.

Alberta is home to 4.2 million b/d of heavy and light oil production and 17 Bcf/d of natural gas, with the province exporting 94% of its output to the US, according to the latest ATB Financial research note of Jan. 10.

Also, the province exported 7.2 Bcf/d of natural gas to the US in December, S&P Global Commodity Insights said in its latest report.

"Whether we live north or south of the 49th Parallel we need to ensure we are not having this tariff conversation so that we can build that continental manufacturing, food and energy security," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said on the same webcast. "At times we have had unnecessary conversations about the path of pipelines whether they lead to tidewater or the US in the years gone by. So maybe we haven't done as good a job at providing that integrated energy security to all North Americans. But we have been successful when we have worked together in providing our security."

Saskatchewan exports nearly 300,000 b/d of primarily light oil to the US, with the bulk of those barrels flowing to the US Midwest – and Chicago in Illinois in particular – on Enbridge's Mainline.

Besides, the province also exports significant volumes of potash and uranium to the US.