Petroleum Services Association of Canada delivers message to Ottawa

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) travelled to Ottawa last week to deliver a message to parliamentarians of the crisis occurring in Canada’s oil and natural gas industry and the need for a Canadian energy brand that includes oil and natural gas.

“We are experiencing a ‘made-in-Canada’ crisis,” said Gary Mar, president & CEO of PSAC. “This crisis was born by regulatory uncertainty, lack of infrastructure to access to international markets, and competitiveness issues. Canada can provide responsible energy or we can let less responsible countries reap the benefits.”

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global demand for all forms of energy, including oil and gas, is increasing with growing populations and the rise of the middle-class in developing nations. Canada’s oil and gas industry’s lack of access to markets beyond the U.S. is costing Canadians over $80 million/day.

“What other country would curtail its own production while importing foreign oil and gas, exporting billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to regimes like Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, as well as to our biggest competitor, the U.S.?” asked Mar.

PSAC recommended to parliamentarians the creation of a Canadian energy brand.

“A Canadian energy brand would showcase how responsibly we develop our resources under strong environmental standards and the rule of law, and how we are improving efficiency and reducing our GHG emissions through innovation and technology development,” said Duncan Au, chair of PSAC and president & CEO of CWC Energy Services Corp. “A brand would help Canadians understand and be proud of our record and support critical infrastructure development so that we can continue to provide jobs, and social and economic benefits to all Canadians.”

The oil and gas industry supports over 530,000 direct and indirect jobs across Canada including manufacturing jobs in Ontario and Quebec.