Good afternoon and thank you for inviting me here today.
CEPA represents Canada's transmission pipeline companies that operate most transmission pipelines in Canada and many of the large pipelines in the United States. We are pleased to report that our systems continue to deliver this essential service in the face of today's unprecedented challenges. In addition to delivering the energy that enables our essential services to continue operations, CEPA members continue to deliver economic benefits for Canada. In 2018, CEPA spent nearly $14 billion on taxes, goods, services and capital projects in nearly every province and territory and directly employed over 13,500 people.
CEPA members have felt the impacts of COVID-19 too. Transmission pipeline operations, maintenance and construction projects along with their supply chains were designated critical infrastructure quite early, and personnel were designated as essential service workers. Special protocols have been set up to protect vital control room personnel and systems and to ensure that personnel are safe. We transitioned to this new reality swiftly and safely, but we are looking forward to getting fully back to work and contributing to Canada's economy and recovery.
It is important for us to recognize the front-line workers who have kept society going. I would also like to thank the federal and provincial governments, which ensure that our members receive the advice and equipment they need to remain safe and the financial aid and liquidity support that are essential to preserve our capacity to recover quickly. Our industry stands ready to do so.
The new decade began with cautious optimism for the pipeline sector. We remain optimistic, and we have many opportunities to grow. We are seeing progress on major pipeline projects, including Trans Mountain, Coastal GasLink, Keystone XL, Enbridge Line 3 and expansion of TC Energy's NGTL system. Other major projects in the midstream and petrochemical sectors, such as Inter Pipeline's Heartland Petrochemical Complex and Pembina Pipeline's Prince Rupert LNG terminal, will create new infrastructure and value-added processing of natural gas liquids into essential petrochemical products.
Recently, CEPA undertook a survey of members to determine what shovel-ready and shovel-worthy projects could be deployed quickly under the right economic, policy and regulatory conditions. I'm pleased to report that CEPA members identified almost 7.5 billion dollars' worth of new projects, many of which offer significant growth and employment opportunities for Canada.
There will be large and small changes to the lives of Canadians and lessons learned as a result of the pandemic. However, our commitment to be the best in the world in terms of environmental performance will remain. Our operations and the products we transport across the continent and the world are essential and have the best environmental practices.
For CEPA, another reason to be optimistic is Canada's status as a world leader in environmental, social and governance standards, or ESG. We know that capital markets are looking at enhanced ESG reporting and, as Canadians, we know that we produce energy to the highest ESG standards. This is a competitive advantage for Canada that should be leveraged.
Another reason for optimism is the engagement and support we see from indigenous communities that are seeing benefit agreements, community investment, jobs and local supply opportunities from energy projects that will provide economic security and build strong communities for the long term. In 2018, CEPA members spent $240 million on personnel, services, supplies and equipment from indigenous suppliers.
Canada is a leader in responsible energy development, and we have the resource base that can grow to meet energy demand globally. Canada can leverage these advantages as the world recovers.
I'd like to speak a bit about liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Canada has immense natural resources, particularly natural gas which, if converted to LNG to supply global customers, would be a powerful engine for the Canadian economy. LNG can bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of revenue to Canada for decades and will help reduce the use of coal around the world.
Beyond LNG, our liquids-rich natural gas offers the potential to expand a major value-adding industry—the petrochemical sector. Again, these are tens of billions of dollars of potential investment that could provide employment, technology development, revenue and products for the whole economy.
As Canadians, we enjoy the security that our resources provide, the security that has ensured the supply chains that feed Canadians, helps to create the fertilizers that grow our food, provides heat and power for our essential services like hospitals and nursing homes, and provides the raw materials for plastics necessary for the personal protective equipment that keeps our front-line workers safe and able to continue to operate.
Global demand for reliable and affordable energy continues to rise, and despite major growth in renewables, oil and natural gas will remain essential parts of the energy mix for decades to come. Natural gas will be foundational as the core to future energy plans and electricity growth. Petrochemical products will also continue to be essential ingredients in new renewable energy production facilities and the systems that connect them.
The ongoing global demand for oil and gas will be met one way or another. Canada should be the first supplier of that energy, as a global ESG leader whose oil and gas resources are developed and transported under some of the strictest environmental standards in the world. Canada should be the first molecule of natural gas or barrel of oil produced and consumed in any market, because no other country produces it more responsibly. The fact is, Canada has the energy that the world will need long into the future. By providing responsibly produced Canadian energy to the world, we will create the jobs and economic and social benefits that our country will need to recover and prosper.
In closing, I would ask you to consider the following.
The crisis has taught us that Canada needs the ability to look after itself in a pandemic. We need shorter supply chains, and we need to enable those supply chains. Fortunately, we have the raw materials we need, the human resources and the ingenuity we need, and the energy we need to be self-sufficient and to help others. What we need is the will to set aside minor differences and work together to leverage all of our natural advantages for the future of all Canadians.
Our industry must be part of that future. We will build it together: safer, smarter.
Thank you.