Away from Russian energy
Canada wants to increase oil exports to Europe
03/24/2022, 21:51
Canada wants to increase its oil exports to help European allies move away from Russian energy supplies faster. 300,000 barrels per day should flow more. Finland’s Prime Minister Marin says: “As long as we buy energy from Russia, we finance the war.”
Against the background of the Ukraine war, Canada wants to increase its oil exports by around five percent so that its European allies can get away from Russian energy supplies more quickly. Ottawa is responding to “requests for help from allies who are struggling with bottlenecks due to the conflict in Ukraine,” said Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. “Canada is in a unique position to help.”
This year, “Canadian industry has the capability to gradually increase its oil and gas exports by about 300,000 barrels per day to replace Russian oil and gas,” Wilkinson said. Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), to which Wilkinson spoke, last week called on governments to take urgent action to reduce global oil consumption, fearing supply shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The member countries of the IEA now want to radically reduce imports from Russia. Director Fatih Birol said he was very impressed by the countries’ unity and determination.
At the EU summit in Brussels, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin also made it clear that the EU must get rid of Russian energy imports as quickly as possible. “As long as we buy energy from Russia, we finance the war,” said Marin. “That’s the big problem we have.”
The outbreak of war in Ukraine has pushed oil prices up sharply; Major economies such as the US and Canada have banned imports of Russian oil as sanctions against Moscow. The EU is also considering an embargo on Russian oil.