‘Pretty excited’: Danielle Smith says Alberta energy ready for its closeup as G7 brings global leaders to Kananaskis Country

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith welcomed global leaders to the province on social media Sunday.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with a number of U.S. dignitaries Saturday in advance of the arrival of global leaders attending the G7 summit in Kananaskis Country.

Smith posted on social media Saturday that she met with the Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada as well as U.S. Consul General Emily Fleckner. She was accompanied to the meetings by James Rajotte, Alberta’s senior representative in the U.S.

“The United States remains Alberta’s largest trading partner,” she wrote, “and we’re committed to strengthening that relationship free of tariffs and full of opportunity.

“Together, we can secure long-term energy supply and build a more prosperous future for both Canadians and Americans.”

‘Showcase for the G7′

On her Saturday morning radio program Your Province, Your Premier, Smith said she was “pretty excited” about having Alberta play host to the G7 summit.

“I’m pretty excited about the fact that Alberta is the showcase for the G7,” she said, “especially as we’re going through having a recalibration and conversation about the role of traditional energy in the energy mix.”

Smith said she was hopeful that members of the G7 would put their support into words.

“I’m really hopeful that the G7 come together and have a positive statement about the role Alberta and Canada can play in providing global energy security on reducing emissions, as well as making sure we’re reducing global energy poverty,” she said.

“That would be very positive if we were able to get a statement, because every leader I’ve met with – because remember, I’m international and intergovernmental minister as well -- so I meet with a lot of ambassadors as they come through (Alberta).

“Every one of them is talking about how they wish they could get more supply out of energy from a reliable supplier like Canada,” she said.

“There is a business case,” she added. “We just have to get the pipeline networks built so we can get them to market.”

“And so I think this is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Alberta to the world and share that message.”

In a separate social media post, Smith welcomed global leaders to the G7 and made a pitch for Alberta energy.

“With the fourth-largest oil reserves and ninth-largest natural gas reserves on earth, we are one of the most reliable and secure energy providers in the world,” she said.

“Our geography uniquely positions us to supply Asia, Europe, and the world with the energy they need whether it’s oil, propane, liquified natural gas, hydrogen, ammonia, and more.”

‘Huge potential’: German ambassador

In an interview with CTV News, Germany’s Ambassador to Canada, Mattias Luttenberg, said there was definitely interest from his side of the ocean for growth in energy exports from Canada.

“I think Germany and Canada have a huge potential for an energy partnership, and we already are working on the hydrogen sector,“ Luttenberg said. ”For example, there’s the H2 global window, something that we agreed upon to make it happen that Canadian hydrogen of all colors, but ideally green hydrogen, could be exported to Europe, to Germany in the first place.

“But we also can still talk about LNG (liquefied natural gas), for example,” he added. “It’s just a matter of how quickly the infrastructure would be in place to be able to transport so that private companies would purchase the LNG in Canada, for example.

“And therefore, of course, it needs some investments in terms of pipelines, port infrastructure, and you have it -- so that’s certainly something which could figure in the discussion of leaders.

“I don’t want to speculate if this comes up in in Kananaskis, but for sure, it’s a topic of our day-to-day conversation with our Canadian friends and partners.”

The G7 gets underway Sunday and continues through Tuesday.