Carney says Canada a reliable oil exporter with moves to increase production

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada does not need a strategic oil reserve because the country is a major oil exporter.

OSLO — Prime Minister Mark Carney and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store touted their reputations as low-risk global oil producers on Saturday, as they met in Oslo and agreed to deepen ties on everything from Arctic security to space, critical minerals and energy.

Carney and Store held bilateral talks where the war in Iran and its impact on global oil supply chains were front and centre.

“From Norway’s perspective, from Canada’s perspective, we are low-risk producers of oil, we are low risk producers of natural gas,” Carney said during a media scrum with Store at the Holmenkollen Skifestival.

His comments came as world oil markets are reeling from the war in the Middle East, which has closed of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of global oil is normally shipped.

On Wednesday, the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency, including Canada, agreed to a co-ordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil, the largest such emergency release in IEA history.

On Friday, Canada announced it would increase its oil production by 23.6 million barrels as part of that.

“That will provide additional, not in the short term but in the medium term -- again, very low carbon oil in terms of production and transportation, which is one of the reasons why it’s attractive,” Carney said.

While most of the emergency release comes from IEA member oil reserves, Canada and Norway, as net oil exporters, are not required to hold oil reserves. Upping production is the only way they can contribute.

“The rules are you should have at least 90 days reserves for those importers,” Carney said. “What we do is we provide oil to the global market. We will continue to do so because we are a safe, low-risk, low-cost, and increasingly low-carbon exporter,”

The prime minister also met Saturday with Norwegian energy company Equinor to talk about the proposed $14 billion Bay du Nord oil project off the coast of Newfoundland. Canada approved the project, which sits about 500 kilometres east of St. John’s, in 2022, but Equinor has not yet made a final investment decision.

Carney called it a “very attractive project” that Canada wants to move forward. Equinor is expected to make its decision in 2027, and the first oil would not be produced until 2031.

“Again, very low-carbon oil in terms of production and transportation,” Carney said.

Environment groups in Canada, however, are skeptical of the project, and say it contradicts Canada’s promise to stop subsidizing oil and gas production.

A spokesperson for Carney said the prime minister also met with Landsvirkjun, the national energy company of Iceland.

Carney also met with Maersk, an international shipping company responsible for about 15 per cent of global container traffic, the spokesperson said.

Carney’s trip to Norway began Friday, when he witnessed NATO exercises in Bardufoss, in the northern part of the country, as Canadians absorbed news that in February, Canada lost 84,000 jobs.

Carney acknowledged that any job loss is difficult for the families affected by it, but said the government is not only looking for long-term investments, but also providing some short-term aid, in the form of an income tax cut and an increase to the GST credit.

“And the government is very focused on growing this economy and part of how we’re going to grow this economy, yes, it’s immediate measures, as I’ve just indicated, but it’s also getting the confidence and the investment in the country,” he said. “A country that’s more independent, that’s diversifying our partnerships, that’s building first and foremost at home, and then secure abroad.”

Carney said wages have grown faster than inflation in recent months, though he also acknowledged they haven’t yet caught up to overall inflation over the last few years.

Carney said that the government is moving forward with a variety of significant projects, and pointed to new military bases and the upcoming construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway announced in Yellowknife at the start of this trip.

The prime minister also touted the creation of the Major Projects Office to speed up approvals of nation building projects. A senior official briefing reporters on the trip -- under the condition they not be named -- said the office has not yet issued an approval but several projects are under consideration.

Carney and Store had a working dinner at the Norwegian prime minister’s residence, after which they issued a joint statement committing to work closely on areas like critical minerals, outer space security, developing critical minerals and supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The two nations also agreed to hold a ministerial conference, in co-operation with Ukraine, in Toronto at the end of September, focused on returning Ukrainian prisoners of war, unlawfully detained civilians and children forcibly transferred to Russia.

During the visit to Holmenkollen, just north of Oslo, Carney met with some Canadian athletes competing in the International Ski Federation Nordic World Cup. This included Olympians Alison Mackie and Xavier McKeever.

Canadian media were informed that Carney also met with the king and queen of Norway at the Holmenkollen Skifestival, but that was a closed event.

“The like-mindedness is really based on some key economic foundations,” Store said during the media scrum.

“Prime Minister Carney, during this year, has made a real new boost in that relationship across the Atlantic. And we sometimes call Canada an honorary Nordic.”

Carney and Store are scheduled to meet with the leaders of four other Nordic nations on Sunday.

Store said that the meeting was convened after he told the leaders of Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden -- collectively known as the Nordic Five -- that Carney was going to be in Norway.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press