Maybe I'll speak first. The oil and gas industry is not helped by rapid increases and rapid declines in the price of oil and natural gas. We also would be happier with a more stable price environment.
I can tell you that the rapid run-up in prices is typically influenced by the belief that the supply is not going to be sufficient to meet demand. One of the reasons that we saw a rapid decline in prices, particularly for crude oil, which is a globally traded commodity, was the global collapse in demand as a result of the economic slump.
The only solution to more stable prices, at least from the consumer's point of view, is adequate supply. Adequate supply depends on incentives for investment in bringing on new supply. That's certainly a point of view that I think all of us would share. If Canadians want to enjoy the benefits of the tremendous energy reserves we have in this country, a sensible policy framework from the national government would be to make sure we have an investment climate in this country that permits our oil and gas companies to develop and bring on supply at a pace that's at least equal to the demand.
We can't control global prices for crude oil, but we can certainly make sure that Canadians are adequately supplied with those kinds of energy. Natural gas prices are set in a continental North American market. We have very little influence from imports of natural gas into North America. It's a continental market and we have adequate supply. In fact, natural gas prices have dropped so low not only because of the economic slump in demand in the United States, to some extent, but also because we have discovered in the last two or three years that we have an incredible natural gas resource base.
A few years ago we didn't have the technology to capture resources such as shale gas. In the last few years, the technology has been developed to do so, and we're now realizing that North America has abundant supplies of clean-burning natural gas. By some measures, we have a century or more of supplies of natural gas. It's a benign, clean-burning fuel. That's what our industry exists to do: supply this continental market with energy supplies.
As I say, from our perspective, the best thing the national government can do is make sure that Canada is a good place to invest, to bring on these supplies when they're needed.