The federal government in Ottawa says that Canada will increase its oil and gas exports by the equivalent of 300,000 barrels a day to help nations that are shifting away from Russian supplies.
Energy producers can raise shipments of crude oil by 200,000 barrels a day and natural gas by the equivalent of 100,000 by year-end, said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson at a press conference held in Paris, France.
Canada and the U.S. already have the pipeline capacity to handle the extra volumes, with some of the extra oil expected to be shipped to Europe via the Gulf Coast, said Minister Wilkinson.
The Canadian government is also in discussions with European countries about eventually supplying them with liquefied natural gas.
Canada has no LNG export terminals yet, but a consortium that includes Shell (SHEL) is building a large one on the Canada’s west coast that is expected to be ready by 2025.
Wilkinson’s comments came as major oil and gas consumers pledged “radical” cutbacks in imports from Russia at the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual ministerial meeting in the French capital.
Canada, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, faces constraints in rapidly raising output. It currently produces more than five million barrels a day of liquid hydrocarbons, but the country’s pipeline network for exports is limited.
Mines and wells in Alberta’s oil sands, where most of the crude is produced, normally run near capacity, except when undergoing maintenance, and expanding them can take years. Some producers of conventional oil are planning to drill more wells but not until later this year.
