What part of ‘Gulf of McDavid’ doesn’t anyone on either side of the Canada-US tariff divide understand?
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says that’s the message she’ll be taking with her to the CERA oil week conference in Houston on March 10.
Smith will be speaking to an audience of the globe’s biggest energy executives at the week-long confab — dubbed the Coachella of the oil world — where the topic of oil tariffs will definitely be top of mind.
That’s because Washington will decide on March 3 whether to stick with plans to impose sweeping 10% tariffs on some 4.3 million barrels per day (bd) of Alberta crude oil, almost 1 million bpd of which went to the US government’s petroleum district (PADD) III, which encompasses the so-called ‘Gulf of America’.
The area around metro Houston is home to the largest concentration of refineries in world, capable of processing nearly 10 million bpd, or about a tenth of all the crude oil consumed on planet Earth.
In that regard, ‘Gulf of McDavid’ makes a lot of sense.
“I support that with a little bit of levity,” Smith said at a press event in Calgary on Monday. “Because, of course, we are a strong, independent nation who can play hockey better than anyone else in the world.”
But in all seriousness, the conference also happens to coincide with the Liberal leadership race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the start of a possible federal election campaign, which will also mark seminal moments in Canada’s — and Alberta’s — relationship with its largest trading partner.
In that regard, Smith said it’s important to work with the Americans to not only divert attention away from the possibility of tariffs but also to focus on ways to enhance bilateral trade which amounted to around $170 billion last year. More than $130 billion of that total was oil and natural gas.
“I've always, in my messages to American legislators and also members of the administration, said we could, we should really talk about the things where we have in common ground,” she explained.
“If we're going to get into a list of grievances… let's get a federal government at the table has a four year mandate. We need an election at the (end of) the liberal leadership race being closed on March 9. I would hope that we would have a federal election very soon after that, no matter who wins, so they can be at the table with a four-year mandate.”
“But I'm I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing.”
The CERA Week conference, hosted by Pulitzer Prize winning author and noted energy analyst Daniel Yergin, is the largest of its kind featuring more than 1,500 speakers from 80 countries including 500 ministers and government officials from the world’s top oil producers.
In addition to Smith, Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean will make the trip, along with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and other federal officials.
Smith will be speaking on a panel discussion with Yergin himself along with Dow chairman Jim Fitterling on the emergence of ‘mega-basins’ — Alberta is surely one of the— “transforming energy landscapes through integrated infrastructure, companies and fuels.”
Jean and Moe will co-host a plenary session spotlighting Canadian energy resources including uranium and electricity.
The government of Alberta, meanwhile, will host a demo session on the Eavor Loop geothermal project as well as Dow’s net-zero cracker at it its Fort Saskatchewan facility.
Speakers are being added daily; US president and tariff architect Donald Trump is rumoured to be among potential attendees.