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.
Story Continues