Message from Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources
HON. SEAMUS O’REGAN
I
t’s been a tough year. The double whammy of a pandemic and global oil price war hit companies, families and communities hard. It hasn’t been easy, especially for our oil and gas workers. But through it all, we’ve
seen your resilience. You’ve been front and centre in Canada’s pandemic response. Your products are used in life-saving equipment,
tects the environment while advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. In Canada, good projects get done in a good way: • TMX. We approved it, we bought it and we’re building it. It’s already created over 7,000 jobs. • NGTL 2021. We approved it, and thousands more jobs will be created in Alberta.
such as petroleum for ventilators and masks. Your sector
• Line 3. We approved it, creating another 7,000 jobs.
has powered and heated hospitals, schools and homes.
The International Energy Agency tells us that demand for
Just as you were there for Canadians, our government
oil and gas will continue to grow for the next two decades,
was there for you. Since March of last year, we’ve provided
even as we invest in other sources of energy. Canada will
more than $2.8 billion in targeted support for the oil and
supply that demand under our world-leading environ-
gas sector, with a laser-like focus on jobs. From cleaning up
mental regulations, as we build our low-emissions energy
orphan and inactive wells, to providing much-needed li-
future.
quidity, to launching the $750m Emissions Reduction Fund, we supported roughly tens of thousands of jobs while lowering emissions and improving competitiveness.
Canada will lead the way. Because there is no path to netzero without your industry. Canada is the fourth largest producer of oil and gas in
And today, our oil and gas workers are leading Canada’s
the world. It’s the biggest part of our economy. What that
economic recovery. Oil exports are at pre-pandemic vol-
means is we have hundreds of thousands of workers who
umes, oil prices have risen sharply, rig counts are edging
know how to build energy infrastructure – and lots of it.
upwards and so is capital investment. It’s a good reminder that the windshield is bigger than the rear-view mirror.
Engineers. Trades workers. Scientists. Investors. The people who made Canada the world’s fourth largest producer
The oil and gas sector remains Canada’s largest private-
of oil are the same people who will build our low-emissions
sector investor in clean technology – by far. You fund
energy future. The same people who will build renewables.
promising innovations, from carbon fibres for ultra-light
The same people who will help meet our climate targets.
electric vehicles to carbon capture and hydrogen produc-
We are determined to leave no energy worker or en-
tion technologies. These are the innovations that investors
ergy-producing region behind. Because this is our family
are looking for. Because the market is moving.
business. You are those workers. And in oil-producing prov-
Investors around the world are increasingly making clear choices. They’re putting their money into businesses, industries and jurisdictions that are taking meaningful climate action. And they’re divesting from those that, in their view, are not. The good news is that you’re already taking meaningful
inces like yours and mine, our friends and neighbours are too. The future we build has to be inclusive. We need to build back better and smarter. Your ingenuity, determination and hard work will make that happen. You will lead us in our common mission:
action. Canadian oil and gas is already produced under
• Net-zero emissions by 2050;
some of the most stringent environmental regulations in
• A prosperous economy that creates jobs, jobs, jobs;
the world, and we’ve built on that with a regulatory system
• A low-emissions future that leaves no one behind.
that provides the certainty investors are looking for. Our re-
I know this is a lot. It’s ambitious.
view process is open, transparent and predictable. It pro-
But we’re Canada. This is what we do. v
12 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2021
