Website Editor: A great summary of Canada's fossil fuels situation and politics in this article.
Nov. 22, 2022
Canada wants to be the last country producing fossil fuels, even if it kills us
COP27 is over. The UN summit took one big step forward on climate justice with the creation of a loss and damage fund for the most impacted nations, while taking two enormous steps backwards by failing to call for a phaseout of all fossil fuels.
Canada's failure to reduce climate pollution has left us far behind most of our peer nations. The primary cause of this failure has been surging emissions from our oil and gas industry. Unfortunately, it’s not the only Canadian sector with stubbornly rising emissions.
Canada’s benchmark heavy crude, Western Canada Select (WCS), is trading at a steep discount to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) after weakening sharply last month, and is expected to remain subdued well into next year.
Why is WCS under pressure?
WCS for delivery at the Hardisty, Alberta, hub is trading close to $30 a barrel under WTI, having averaged $16.67 a barrel below WTI for the first three quarters of 2022.
Canada’s biggest fossil companies are lining up to dismiss the federal government’s new emissions cap for their sector as “very aggressive” and “almost unrealistic”, even as Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault hastens to offer them flexibility and an extended deadline to hit the long-awaited target.
The touted tech is still scarce and pricey, and even oilsands allies counsel caution.
In late June, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney flew to Washington, D.C., with the heads of major oilsands producers to make the case that Canada’s most carbon polluting industry cares deeply about fixing climate change.
