Canadian oil drillers have blamed punitive regulation and attacks by foreign-funded environmental groups for huge loss of foreign capital, job losses and relocations.
Following the Canadian federal election in October, the sentiment toward Canadian oil and gas was nearing all-time lows, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors said in a press release.
“It has been another extremely difficult year for our members,” said CAODC President & CEO Mark Scholz. “The attacks from foreign funded, radical environmental groups, and punitive policy measures from our own federal government have caused Canadian oil and gas families to suffer unnecessarily.”
According to the association, since 2017 the industry has lost an estimated $30 billion in foreign capital, and companies continue layoffs and relocation efforts. CAODC members have moved 29 high-spec drilling rigs, several service rigs, and associated personnel to the United States in order to find work and generate cash flow.
The association said punitive regulations in the form of bills C-48 and C-69, delays in Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline and the Trans Mountain Expansion project have, among other things, left Canadian oil and gas workers with little to be optimistic about.
“It would appear the only place Canada’s exceptional reputation for technologically driven environmental best practices isn’t recognized is in Ottawa,” Scholz said. “If we do not create an environment where the oil and gas industry can compete internationally, we won’t have an industry left in this country.”
To stabilise the industry and restore confidence, the association calls upon the federal government to accept Alberta’s climate plan as a federal equivalent program; repeal bills C-48 and C-69; guarantee the completion of the Trans Mountain Expansion project using all available tools and resources; and include and prioritise the responsible development and export of Canadian oil and gas as an effective and timely means of reducing global greenhouse gas. emissions.
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