Make it a true Daily Double. And if America can do it, Alberta can too. Or, at least try.That was the message from Premier Daniele Smith following seemingly offhand remarks she made to American media host Tucker Carlson in a wide-ranging discussion of energy policies on Wednesday.In her fireside chat Smith, told Carlson she’d like to “take a page out of what the Americans are doing” by becoming the world’s largest oil and gas producer while simultaneously reducing emissions.“So I think we should just double down and decide we're going to double our oil and gas production,” Smith announced, to uproarious applause. .Given that output hit a record of 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, that would put Alberta on par with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia as alternatively the world’s second or third largest producer — behind the United States.South of the border, Lower 48 production has undergone a miracle transformation, nearly tripling from about 4.5 million bpd in 2010 to an all-time record of 13 million bpd in 2023, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA) — no country on Earth has ever produced that much since oil was first discovered in 1857.Meanwhile, US CO2 emissions in absolute terms have fallen a minimum of 25% since 2007 even as oil and gas production have reached new heights.According to Smith, the American experience can be replicated here in Alberta as well.“So why not? I say let's be aspirational,” she told The Western Standard from a press conference in Edmonton on Thursday. And that her remarks were made in that context..“Everybody keeps talking in very gloomy terms about the future of this industry. I think that for the next foreseeable future, we're going to continue to need a secure supply of oil and natural gas and if it is the case, that the world is going to be reducing its reliance, we need to be the best barrel on the market.”Although a true daily-double would be several years away, Alberta is poised to have a breakthrough year in 2024 as the Trans Mountain expansion adds about 600,000 barrels per day of immediate, incremental capacity starting in the second quarter and major LNG projects come to fruition.In addition, Smith said she’s talking “to my pipeline operators” about increasing compression and upgrading existing lines to add even more incremental export capacity. “When you look at the Americans, they seem to have been able to understand that they can increase production and reduce emissions… that's what we want to do — to increase production, reduce emissions. I think we should set a big goal of doing exactly that.”
Make it a true Daily Double. And if America can do it, Alberta can too. Or, at least try.That was the message from Premier Daniele Smith following seemingly offhand remarks she made to American media host Tucker Carlson in a wide-ranging discussion of energy policies on Wednesday.In her fireside chat Smith, told Carlson she’d like to “take a page out of what the Americans are doing” by becoming the world’s largest oil and gas producer while simultaneously reducing emissions.“So I think we should just double down and decide we're going to double our oil and gas production,” Smith announced, to uproarious applause. .Given that output hit a record of 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, that would put Alberta on par with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia as alternatively the world’s second or third largest producer — behind the United States.South of the border, Lower 48 production has undergone a miracle transformation, nearly tripling from about 4.5 million bpd in 2010 to an all-time record of 13 million bpd in 2023, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA) — no country on Earth has ever produced that much since oil was first discovered in 1857.Meanwhile, US CO2 emissions in absolute terms have fallen a minimum of 25% since 2007 even as oil and gas production have reached new heights.According to Smith, the American experience can be replicated here in Alberta as well.“So why not? I say let's be aspirational,” she told The Western Standard from a press conference in Edmonton on Thursday. And that her remarks were made in that context..“Everybody keeps talking in very gloomy terms about the future of this industry. I think that for the next foreseeable future, we're going to continue to need a secure supply of oil and natural gas and if it is the case, that the world is going to be reducing its reliance, we need to be the best barrel on the market.”Although a true daily-double would be several years away, Alberta is poised to have a breakthrough year in 2024 as the Trans Mountain expansion adds about 600,000 barrels per day of immediate, incremental capacity starting in the second quarter and major LNG projects come to fruition.In addition, Smith said she’s talking “to my pipeline operators” about increasing compression and upgrading existing lines to add even more incremental export capacity. “When you look at the Americans, they seem to have been able to understand that they can increase production and reduce emissions… that's what we want to do — to increase production, reduce emissions. I think we should set a big goal of doing exactly that.”
