Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said the province has an “urgent call” for serious federal action for liquidity for its oil and gas industry.
“Today the price of Western Canadian Select oil has been trading as low as $5. There is a flood of OPEC oil coming on to the North American energy markets. This in my view constitutes predatory dumping by unfriendly dictatorships that are seeking to drive the North American energy producers out of business,” said Kenney on Friday during a news conference.
“We cannot let them win.”
Earlier on Friday, Kenney said he spoke with the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Energy Francis Fannon and other leaders in Washington.
He said that in the days to come he will be speaking to both Congressional and administration leaders and governors in the United States about pursuing coordinated North American action “to defend our energy jobs and industry from this predatory dumping by OPEC into our market which jeopardizes our entire economy.”
Kenney said that on Thursday he spoke to all 12 of his Premier colleagues of the provinces and the territories.
“I want to pass on to Albertans how touched I am to hear profound expressions of support and solidarity for this province given that we’re not just going through the COVID crisis and the global recession but also a massive attack our largest industry,” he said. “Then I heard from Premiers from coast to coast right across the political spectrum who said that Alberta has been there for Canada, for their provinces and regions for decades, and now Canada needs to be there for Alberta.
“And I heard the strongest possible endorsement for our call for emergency federal credit back stop to provide liquidity for our oil and gas sector.
“Let me be blunt with Albertans we are facing what will likely be the largest single contraction in our economy in our history. These are going to be very challenging days ahead.”
