WASHINGTON—Energy experts from The Heritage Foundation and MEI, a pan-Canadian research and educational policy organization, released statements today encouraging American and Canadian leaders to use the upcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, to reassert how North American energy cooperation has made the U.S. and Canada stronger.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment and the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and one of America’s most prominent energy experts, said:
“Energy cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the United States is vital for the Western World’s energy security. Both President Trump and Prime Minister Carney share energy as a key priority for their respective administrations.
“The G7 should embrace energy abundance by cooperating and committing to a rapid expansion of energy infrastructure. Members should commit to streamlined permitting, including a one-stop shop permitting and environmental review process, to unleash the capital investment necessary to make energy abundance a reality.”
North America’s energy industry is continentally integrated, benefitting from a blend of U.S. light crude oil and Mexican and Canadian heavy crude oil that keeps the continent’s refineries running smoothly.
Daniel Dufort, president and CEO of MEI, weighed in:
“The abundance and complementary of Canada and the United States’ energy resources have made both nations more prosperous and more secure in their supply. Both countries stand to reduce dependence on Chinese and Russian energy by expanding their pipeline networks – the United States to the East and Canada to the West – to supply their European and Asian allies in an increasingly turbulent world.”
Each day, Canada exports 2.8 million barrels of oil to the United States. These get refined into gasoline, diesel and other higher value-added products that furnish the U.S. market with reliable and affordable energy, as well as exported to other countries, including some 780,000 barrels per day of finished products that get exported to Canada and 1.08 million barrels per day to Mexico.
A similar situation occurs with natural gas, where Canada ships 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the United States through a continental network of pipelines. This gets consumed by U.S. households, as well as transformed into liquefied natural gas products, of which the United States exports 11.5 billion cubic feet per day, mostly from ports in Louisiana, Texas and Maryland.
Under this scenario, Europe would buy more high-value light oil from the U.S., whose domestic needs would be back-stopped by lower-priced heavy oil imports from Canada, whereas Asia would consume more LNG from Canada, diminishing China and Russia’s economic and strategic leverage over the continent.
