Amazing weekend in the riding
By Leela Sharon Aheer Chestermere-Strathmore MLA
Hello Chestermere-Strathmore readers! I want to give a shout-out to our communities in our riding yet again, what an amazing weekend filled with music, great food, fantastic conversation and you and your families.
I want to speak about energy this week. There are many writers that I will refer to in this article with multiple positions because I think it is important to share multiple sides as we deliver ideas on policy, clean-up, surface rights and other critical issues when it comes to our resource sector. I have always said and truly believe that our resource stewardship in our province is world-class. Not only are we way ahead in our ability to produce and deliver responsibly resourced and needed energy to the world, but we also have an obligation to do so, as billions of people on this earth go without proper access to inexpensive energy, the key to education and prosperity for burgeoning middle classes all over the world. We are wealthy beyond belief here and as my friend and energy policy analyst David Yager says:
“It is obvious to anyone who thinks about the big picture. A small group in the wealthy, energy-rich West pretends to speak for the entire world without asking billions of people what they want or need.”
This statement speaks to all of us as energy producers because we care deeply about our earth, air and water, responsible resource stewardship, and the growth of our economy and economies outside of Canada.
Dan Tsubouchi, chief market specialist at SAF group, posted an interesting tweet; he said
“Must read! #Aramco CEO Nasser ‘rest of world will not transition at the same speed as developed world. This is where most of humanity lives.’ ie. 6.8b of 7.8b world! It’s why #EnergyTransition ‘ambition is years ahead of reality.’ #Oil #NatGas look good for 2020s. #OOTT”
Please look at the following article as it gives some insight into what is happening globally right now.
“Aramco Profit Surges to Another Record on Bumper Oil Market” by Reema Al Othman and Anthony Di Paola (Aug. 14, 12:06 a.m. Updated on Aug. 14, 3:18 a.m. With assistance by Kateryna Kadabashy, Patrick Sykes and Leen Al-Rashdan)
They stated in their article. “Aramco expects oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the decade, despite downward economic pressures on short-term global forecasts,” Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said. Energy companies boomed in the first half of this year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled markets, sending oil prices above $100 a barrel and causing refining margins to soar, while Aramco is benefiting from both high production and sales prices. Firms such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Plc made record earnings in the second quarter.”
The most concerning part of this article is that President Biden went to speak with Saudi Arabian folks about boosting production when his neighbour Canada could have boosted that production easily had he signed off on Keystone. Starting today, if Trudeau and Biden work together, we could see the pipeline going in six months to a year. Given the situation globally, we could benefit the world with our resources by increasing supply. We see protests worldwide as energy prices rise, and it is time for Canada to rise to the occasion!
As always, we love to hear from you.
(Leela Sharon Aheer is the MLA Elect for Chestermere-Strathmore)