http://business.financialpost.com/
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got his day in the Washington sun Thursday for supporting U.S. President Barack Obama’s climate change action. Make no mistake: While Trudeau got the attention, it’s Obama who got the victory lap.
He beat Canada on the Keystone XL debacle, which contributed to the containment of Canadian oil and gas industry growth, and wiped out seven years of frosty bilateral relations with former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the price of hosting a state visit with the new Liberal leader.
Under Obama’s watch, U.S. oil production soared, a ban on oil exports was lifted to allow U.S. oil to reach world markets and the U.S. liquefied natural gas industry beat Canadian projects to export markets.
Meanwhile, proposed Canadian pipelines remain tied in knots, courtesy of opposition from the same U.S.-funded NGOs that led the assault against KXL; Canadian oil has been unable to reach export markets; the Canadian LNG industry is going nowhere; Canadian oilsands production has been capped; Canadians are facing carbon taxes while their U.S. counterparts are not; Canada’s fossil fuel treasure trove has been marginalized in favour of subsidized renewable energy as part of a massive, government-directed intrusion in the energy economy.
Indeed, during Obama’s administration, the U.S. oil and gas industry became Canada’s biggest competitor, as highlighted in Alberta’s recently released royalty review report:
“Advances in technology have unlocked significant new sources of oil and gas supplies, particularly from unconventional deposits in the United States,” the report says.
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