Oilpatch willing to help Canada become energy superpower, but needs regulatory reform from Carney

"We are ready and willing to roll up our sleeves to engage and achieve the full potential of the resource sector," said Suncor chief executive Rich Kruger. Photo by Azin Ghaffari /Postmedia

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The heads of Canada’s largest energy companies are offering to work with Prime Minister Mark Carney to help turn the country into a global energy superpower, but are still calling for the reform or repeal of key planks of the previous government’s regulatory regime, which he has so far indicated he has no intention of abandoning.

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“Our economic sovereignty is being tested,” Suncor Energy Inc. chief executive Rich Kruger said. “Whoever is leading the country, it should be a priority for them to maximize the value of this industry. We are ready and willing to roll up our sleeves to engage and achieve the full potential of the resource sector.”

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A letter signed by executives from 38 energy companies said Carney’s pledge to make Canada an energy superpower and energy secure will require major investment and substantial changes to the country’s energy and carbon policies in order to attract private capital to the table.

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It was their second open letter in a matter of weeks, with the first addressing all four major federal party leaders.

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The group called Carney’s commitment to limiting the federal review process for nationally significant projects to two years a “positive step,” but insufficient, urging him instead to target a six-month timeline from the application. It also agreed with a pledge to double the federal Indigenous loan guarantee program to $10 billion.

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But a gulf remains between the oilpatch and Ottawa over the Impact Assessment Act (known as Bill C-69) and the ban on oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s northern coast, with the sector saying it expects its growth to be limited by the planned federal cap on oil and gas emissions and future increases to the federal industrial carbon tax.

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“We don’t need to build pipelines that are going to be empty,” Kruger said, adding that implementing a clear and attractive regulatory environment with deadlines for project approvals must come before additional pipeline capacity.

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“If we do those things, the industry will need more market access; market access without those other prerequisites would lead to a bunch of empty pipelines,” he said.

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The sector’s initial optimism over a resurgence in public interest in pipelines and energy development has been checked by concerns that the new Liberal government will keep or double down on policies that have caused consternation in the oilpatch for the past decade.

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Whitecap Resources Inc. chief executive Grant Fagerheim said attracting capital back to Canada’s resource sector will require simplified regulations and firm guidelines for project approvals.

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“There’s got to be a pivot,” he said. “They’re going to have to recalibrate their entire message on resource development.”

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At the same time, some of the sector’s political and environmental opponents are urging Ottawa not to delay or change course on the country’s climate ambitions in the face of economic aggression from the United States.

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Nevertheless, U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and musings about making Canada the 51st state have helped propel the subject of pipelines and energy to the forefront of public debates about fortifying the Canadian economy and diversifying trade away from the U.S.