“THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PERIOD FOR CANADA.”
Birn said Canada remains a major global player on the supply side, being the world’s fourth-largest producer of oil and fifth-largest producer of natural gas. “This is a really important period for Canada. These megaprojects, they’re generational. These are a once-in-a-generation kind of thing,” Birn said. “For Canada’s entire history of being an oil and gas producer, it’s been almost solely reliant on one single export market, which is the United States. That’s been beneficial, but it’s also caused problems for Canada in that reliance from time to time. “This is the first time Canada will enter the global marketplace as a global player, so it is an incredibly important change for the industry.” Exner-Pirot said Canada has the ability to become a major exporter on the energy front globally, at a time when demand is accelerating. “We have open water from B.C. to our allies in Asia . . . It’s a straight line from Canada to its allies. This is a tremendous advantage,” she said, noting the growth of data centres and AI is expected to see demand for reliable energy soar. “We are seeing growing electricity demand after de- cades of plateauing because our fridges got more en- ergy efficient and our washers and dryers got more energy efficient. Now we’re starting to see for the first time in a long time more electricity demand even in developed countries. These are all drivers.”
SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 24 ISSUE 3 95
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