A new research survey for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) found Canada is seen by people around the world as a preferred supplier in meeting growing global oil and gas needs.
More than 22,000 people in 32 countries were polled by Ipsos on behalf of CAPP.
Jeff Gaulin, vice-president, communications with CAPP said they embarked on the research, after questions about whether Canadians even want to see the oil and gas sector developed further.
“We were curious to know, does the world want us? And the answer quite clearly is, yes.”
Thirty-one per cent saw Canada as a preferred source of oil and gas imports–topping a list of 11 producing countries.
“We were really quite surprised with that. When you look at all the countries around the world, there are so many oil and gas suppliers.But when we asked people around the world — if you can’t make it yourself, where would you want to buy it from? — the answer was clear, and Canada was number one in the world,” said Gaulin.
Another 54 per cent were neutral or admitted they didn’t know enough about Canada’s industry to make an informed decision. CAPP says that finding means the industry needs to do a better job of selling itself to the world.
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“It’s time we start to share Canada’s energy story with the rest of the world. We are leaders in environmental stewardship, responsible development and sustainability. We have high expectations of our industry and so does the rest of the world, ” said Gaulin.
The top five countries with the greatest interest in importing Canadian oil and gas included Israel, the U.S., Algeria, India and South Africa.
The 2017 Global Energy Pulse also found 68 per cent of Canadians agreed Canada’s oil and gas supply should be the primary source to meet our own energy needs, rather than imports from other nations.
In 2016, Canada imported 609,000 barrels of oil per day, and 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Angola, and Norway to supply Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec.
Gaulin said the survey also asked questions about the environmental impact of oil and gas development. He says the majority of respondents said they would prefer to buy their oil and gas from a country with a climate change plan and one that invests in innovation and technology.
Gaulin said now that the industry knows the world “wants more Canada,” it’s got to go out and expand its market, even though the competition is fierce.
The International Energy Agency estimates global energy demand will rise by 31 per cent by 2040, with China and India becoming the largest consumers.
Canada is home to the third-largest oil reserves and is the fifth-largest natural gas producer in the world.
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