HOUSTON: Alberta has inked a major supply deal with Japan — after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said no business case could be made.
Despite Trudeau’s infamous assertion that “there is no business case for LNG” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ichiro Takahara, chairman and CEO of the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), signed a memorandum of understanding at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference, strengthening Alberta’s role as a key energy supplier to Japan.
The agreement renews Alberta and Japan’s commitment to developing oil, natural gas, hydrogen and ammonia resources while collaborating on carbon capture and storage (CCUS) and other emissions-reduction technologies.
It also seeks to promote job-creating investment opportunities in the province — precisely the kind of business case for LNG that the Trudeau government has downplayed.
“JOGMEC has been one of our province’s most significant and long-standing partners in Asia and has played a key role in supporting Japanese investment in our energy sector, which has helped fuel our economy and support jobs for Albertans,” Smith stated.
“Through this agreement, Alberta looks forward to building on our long history of friendship to advance our mutual priorities and work together to secure Alberta and Japan’s energy future.”
Meanwhile, JOGMEC CEO Ichiro Takahara praised Alberta’s resource potential by highlighting its vast oil and natural gas reserves and emerging hydrogen and ammonia production capabilities.
He also pointed to the province’s well-developed legal framework for CCUS, carbon pricing and government support programs as key reasons for Japan’s continued investment.
Alberta’s Minister of Energy and Minerals, Brian Jean, emphasized its role as a global leader in "ethical" energy production.
The agreement underscores Japan’s ongoing reliance on Alberta’s energy sector, despite the federal government’s reluctance to support LNG export projects.
Japan was Alberta’s third-largest export market in 2024, with bilateral trade exceeding $3 billion. Energy exports alone made up nearly $1 billion of that total.
JOGMEC has played a crucial role in facilitating Japanese investment in Alberta since the initial signing of an MOU in 2017, which was renewed in 2021. With this latest renewal, Alberta continues to assert itself as a global energy player — contradicting Trudeau’s dismissal of LNG’s economic viability and demonstrating that international demand for Canadian energy remains strong even as the US government flirts with mutually destructive tariffs.
“We have an opportunity to supply Japan with the most ethically produced oil and gas on the planet to aid in their economy and shift to low-carbon electricity production while we continue to grow our international energy exports,” Jean said.