Danielle Smith said that the federal government was the biggest obstacle to growth in Canada's oil and gas industry in a speech before a packed gathering of Canadian oil and gas drillers.
Smith has begun to lay out how she will govern the heart of Canada's energy industry after a month on the job. We are going to go to the wall for you.
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Smith told more than 400 people gathered for the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors annual State of the Industry event that her government would fight federal overreach and assert the province's jurisdiction over its natural resources.
The biggest obstacle facing the growth of the sector is not the oil fields, it's not the global markets, it's located in a building about 2,400 miles east of here on Parliament Hill.
The premier is going to introduce her controversial sovereignty act in the legislature next week.
Smith said that the act would show the province's ability to ignore federal laws. The cap on oil and gas emissions is expected in the spring.
Smith criticized a number of federal climate policies, including the federal carbon tax on fuel, which critics say complicates the approval of energy projects by creating additional opportunities for activists to impede progress.
Smith said that it was easy for activists to make-believe about the reality of Canada's economy. The energy sector is the fuel in the engine that drives Canada's prosperity.
The Government ofAlberta will always be allies to you in the industry.
Much of the industry has enjoyed record breaking cash flow over the last 18 months as Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted already tight global supplies sending prices soaring but the sector's appetite for capital expenditure has been hampered by uncertainty over future demand.
Despite the industry's push for a new tax credit, the CAOEC said it expects more drilling activity next year.
According to The Canadian Press, the CAOEC expects a 15 per cent increase in the number of wells to be drilled in Canada in the next two years.
Headwater Exploration Inc.'s president and COO said that the industry is finally fun again after seven years of hard work. We went through a seven year cycle whererenewables were going to replace natural resources. Capital was hard to come by, pricing was depressed and we were all right-sizing our businesses. We have moved out of that. Energy security is important in an environment like this. As the industry produces more earnings, capital is returning.
Smith had nice things to say about Trudeau. She said she was happy that the federal government signed off on the province's system for pricing and regulating industrial greenhouse gas emissions, the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program.
The premier took a victory lap over the news that federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault had declined to endorse a failed bid at COP 27 to get signatures to commit to a complete phaseout of fossil fuels.
Smith said that the federal government has to listen when they assert their right to develop.
The email was mpotkins@postmedia.
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