Notley pushing Liberals for action
Premier says Ottawa is best poised to ease Alberta’s ‘extremely difficult times’
EDMONTON Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip to Calgary that spurred a pro-oil rally linked to the brutal price differential should have underscored the urgency of the situation and need for federal action, says Premier Rachel Notley.
“This is a critical time, so the Government of Alberta will do what it needs to do, whether we do it by ourselves or with support from Ottawa ... which has the most agency and authority over the ridiculous situation we find ourselves in right now,” she told reporters Friday.
“I would suggest it might be reasonable for them to come to the table.”
Trudeau — who started his Calgary visit at an affordable housing announcement Thursday — said the differential is “very much a crisis.”
“There is no question that folks in Alberta, folks here in Calgary, are living through extremely difficult times,” he said.
The $45 price discount on Alberta barrels of Western Canadian Select crude compared to West Texas Intermediate in the United States is costing the Canadian economy billions, though estimates vary. The province pegs the losses at around $80 million per day.
Notley asked Ottawa to increase crude-by-rail capacity in an effort to curb the oil glut, but officials haven’t officially responded to the proposal. She added that reports from Ottawa that increasing rail shipments would do little short term are “simplistic.”
“In fact there is value to this investment, not only from the most immediate perspective but also as a hedge,” she said.
Crude-by-rail shipments increased to a record 269,829 barrels per day in September, but the differential continued to grow.
Notley said she wanted to thank people who showed up in Calgary Thursday to “express their views in a non-threatening way.”
“I told people I was expecting the prime minister would leave Alberta far more seized of the urgency of the matter than when he arrived,” she said. “I would like to say that many Albertans contributed to that outcome.”
Notley is slated to travel to Ottawa and Toronto next week, but no meeting with Trudeau is scheduled.
“We are having some fairly intense conversations between officials,” she said.
Trudeau said the federal government is doing what it can to get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion built, which would triple its capacity to carry oil to tankers on the West Coast.
He also said his government is also allowing companies to write down capital investments to help the oilpatch and he would meet with industry officials to see what else Ottawa can do.
Earlier this week, Notley appointed three envoys to work on short-term solutions to close the price gap.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimated that the oil differential has cost Canada at least $13 billion in the first 10 months of 2018.