A Northern Alberta First Nations chief has warned Canada over the repercussions of what she calls a massive expansion of oil sands production — alleging the Carney–Smith memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy would boost output by 100 million barrels per day (bpd).However, that figure isn’t just off by a little. It’s off by the entire global daily oil production.Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, with Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi and several northern Alberta First Nations chiefs opposing the MOU, acting chief Teri Vellibrun of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) said her community “says no to increasing production of tar sands by 100 million barrels a day, no to increasing toxic tailings in our backyard, no to lifting the tanker ban on the west coast.”.Nothing in the MOU comes remotely close to that number.The exact wording in the MOU is: “Construction of one or more private sector–constructed and financed pipelines, with indigenous peoples co-ownership and economic benefits, with at least one million barrels a day of low-emission Alberta bitumen with a route that increases export access to Asian markets as a priority.”In addition to that, the agreement notes the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline by an extra 300,000–400,000 bpd of capacity to Asian markets.That’s a projected total of roughly 1.3 to 1.4 million bpd.Vellibrun’s claim overshoots the actual figures by 99 million bpd.For perspective, no country on Earth produces 100 million bpd — not Saudi Arabia or the United States.Global production sits around 96–97 million bpd, and according to OilPrice.com, worldwide consumption only surpassed the 100 million bpd mark in 2023..UPDATED: Alberta and Ottawa strike sweeping deal to boost oil exports, scrap federal caps and push oil to Asia .Despite the numerical leap, the ACFN continues to oppose further development in the oil-sands region.On Thursday, the chiefs who gathered in Ottawa called the MOU unconstitutional, a violation of the honour of the Crown, and another example of governments making decisions first and consulting indigenous nations later.The ACFN, located near Fort Chipewyan, more than 700 kilometres north of Edmonton, has a long track record of clashing with the oil and gas sector over projects.In 2007, it launched a court challenge against an oil sands lease granted to Shell Canada, saying it wasn’t given a fair chance to object.The ACFN was also the focal point of Neil Young’s 2014 “Honour the Treaties” concert tour, which raised more than $500,000 for ACFN legal battles but stirred up controversy after Young compared the oil sands to Hiroshima.
