I'm talking about if it were there.
Evidence of meeting #7 for Natural Resources in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was csa.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #7 for Natural Resources in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was csa.
A video is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
Yes. If those refineries are willing to invest money, and if they see a long steady, stable supply of oil that would incent them to make any investments they need in the refinery, to use more of the heavy oil product that we would provide from western Canada, you would see a measurable impact on the uptake of Canadian oil use in eastern Canada.
Liberal
TJ Harvey Liberal Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
That being said, what kind of time frame—10 years, five years, three years, two years?
Vice-President, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
Well, to be realistic—
Vice-President, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
—probably five to 10 years.
Liberal
TJ Harvey Liberal Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
Okay.
I'd like to give the rest of my time to Mr. Tan, please.
Liberal
Geng Tan Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Thank you.
My question is for Mr. Ferguson.
I have no doubt that Canada is a world global leader in oil and gas production and innovation. In addition to selling our oil and gas products, are there also policies in place for the industry to encourage seeking global markets for our technology and innovation, as CSA is doing?
Vice-President, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
The oil and gas industry around the planet is fairly integrated in terms of knowledge base, whether it's around the understanding in geology, the big data management of geological information, or drilling techniques. In the service sector, the Schlumbergers, those large service-sector companies, operate in all those jurisdictions. If we have a particular instrument for a challenge that we have here—for example, in really deep drilling, the high temperature requires different kinds of tools and more sophisticated sensing technologies—that will be employed through the service sector quickly in another jurisdiction that would have the same challenges.
I think those kinds of things happen organically more so than a structural thing. Certainly the COSIA story is one that brings a significant opportunity, and it has been taken, through some of the global companies that operate in the COSIA world, to their operations in other jurisdictions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal James Maloney
Thank you. We're out of time; sorry.
Mr. Cannings, over to you. You have three minutes.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
I'll be brief then.
I wanted to get a comment from you, Alex, on how a price on carbon, especially a predictably rising price on carbon, would affect innovation. Would it increase innovation?
Vice-President, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
Certainly, and I think the economists have long quoted that it's the most effective and efficient way to incent behavioural changes on carbon emissions, on GHG emissions. We obviously see that.
Our focus has been to make sure that a lot of the revenue that comes from a carbon pricing mechanism is focused and directs innovation back into the technologies that will drive those changes today and tomorrow for our industry, and other industries as well. We think that link to technology and innovation in a directed manner is the critical part of it, not so much the mechanism. Whether it's a carbon price or it's a regulatory mechanism, as long as you direct it at technology and innovation, you will get some success.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
I think most of my other questions have been answered, so maybe I'll just ask what you feel about a strategic oil reserve for Canada. Other countries have one.
Vice-President, Policy and Performance, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
I think most of our strategic oil reserve is in the ground, and that's similar to other jurisdictions. However, it requires us to invest to get that strategic reserve implemented when we want to. I think our ability to turn that strategic oil reserve on and off needs to be increased in expediency and responsiveness, which we would encourage through regulatory instruments. Canada has an incredible wealth of natural resources in this industry as well as others, and our ability to get benefit out of that for all Canadians is the real challenge in front of us.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal James Maloney
Thank you.
Thank you all for your excellent questions.
Gentlemen, thank you all very much for coming today and your excellent presentations.
Mr. Ferguson, you bore the brunt of the questions today, so we're grateful to you for that. But we really do appreciate all of you taking the time to be here today and preparing the material for us to look at. Thanks again.
We're going to suspend for a couple of minutes, and then we'll come back and deal with some other business.
[Proceedings continue in camera]