Coincidence?Barely a day after Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek was being feted in Norway as the new vice-president of the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP), the country’s state oil company announced plans to pump at least USD$6 billion per year into its offshore oil fields until at least 2035.To put it into perspective, that the equivalent of building a modest-sized oil sands facility in Alberta every year for the next decade..“Do you think the Norwegian oil age will soon end? Forget it.”Equinor CEO Anders Opedal.According to English translation of comments made by Equinor CEO Anders Opedal to reporters in Stavanger Monday: “Do you think the Norwegian oil age will soon end? Forget it.”Equinor “will not” be stopped by climate activists and activist shareholders that question the company’s plans, he added.The company also plans to drill 20-30 exploration wells on the Norwegian continental shelf each year over the same time period, he added.The irony is that Equinor, formerly Statoil, sold off its entire oil sands business unit and left Alberta to satisfy its emissions-conscious government and EU opponents in 2021. Major oil discoveries off the coast of Newfoundland have been put on hold while it retrenches back home.Meanwhile, the WECP describes itself as a network of cities “home to many of the world’s largest energy companies which are leading initiatives to build a lower-carbon energy future.”“As hubs for the global energy sector, WECP cities and Mayors are leading voices on the most pressing challenges facing the urban landscape today, including sustainable economic development, climate action, and building more resilient cities,” it says on its website..Calgary is just one of four such utopian metropolises in North America, the others being Halifax, St. John’s and Houston, TX.Likewise, Stavanger — home to Equinor — is just one of four European cities in the group, including Aberdeen, Scotland; Groningen, Netherlands; and Esbjerg, Denmark.At the meeting, Esbjerg mayor Jesper Frost Rasmussen was unanimously elected president while taking on Gondek as his underling.“In Esbjerg, we do not just talk about the green transition, we are doing it for a living. I look forward to keeping strengthen the connection between energy cities, to inspire and get inspired, on our pathways to energy transition,” he said..Equinor’s doubling down on oil production comes even though the Calgary mayor declared a ‘climate emergency’ in November 2021, immediately after her election.On Instagram, Gondek said she saw no incongruity between representing Canada’s oil and gas capital and an organization dedicated to transitioning from fossil fuels.“As I engage with leaders from other energy-focused cities, my focus is on how Calgary, as Canada’s energy capital, can collaborate with industry to drive the development of diverse energy sources, and strengthen international relationships.”
