The committee member, Mr. Chair, is right to point out some of the shortcomings or challenges we face.
Before I answer the question, it's also worth remembering that Canada also has competitive advantages with regard to its oil production. We are a stable economy, we have plentiful supplies, and we're steady suppliers. We have a lot of strengths in our game that we shouldn't lose sight of. We only need to be reminded by looking at those other world producers out there. Whether it's in Iraq or in Venezuela, there are a lot of trouble spots where that oil is being produced. It's just something well worth keeping in mind.
On the dimension you touched on with regard to progress, cost reduction is at the top of the priority list for the industry. So is addressing environmental performance. I think there's an acknowledgement, now more so than ever, from industry leaders that we need to act on both fronts. There's also very strong support on the part of the provinces. We understand that we need to move the yardstick significantly in terms of environmental performance and cost to keep the industry running not just for the short-term environment we're in but also to make sure we're competitive in the long haul.
The kind of technologies I've described, the so-called transformative technologies on the extraction side, are in my view probably the most attractive. Right now the industry is more focused on looking at marginal or incremental improvements to costs of production, which are certainly well worth looking into, in terms of project management, marginal improvements to use of energy, and production processes.
To address the gist of your question, there's been more effort lately, during the past year or two, to look at more of those transformative technologies that would give us a step change in terms of both environmental performance and cost. The good news is that we have in our arsenal, if I may say, half a dozen or so technologies that could get us there and bring us to a significantly lower cost of production and lower emissions. Water should not be lost in terms of that equation; it's also a top priority for the industry.
That line of sight is there, but again, it will take us many years to bring those technologies to market. We are committed to do our part as government, and the industry appears to be also very much onside to pursue those efforts.