While Canada and other G7 countries don’t directly buy oil and gas from Russia, they procure it from third countries through a price cap policy. Russia remains a leading energy provider, and Europe relies on its production for the normal functioning of its economy. Russia is the third largest oil producer in the world while Canada takes the fourth spot. The US and Saudi Arabia take the top two positions producing around 22 million and 11 million barrels per day.
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G7 Can Make Canada the Third Oil & Gas Power and Surpass Russia?
It might be tough for Canada to replace Russia as an oil and gas superpower without the help of the G7. For Canada to truly surpass Russia, Europe must fully ban imports of Russian energy and give leeway to its G7 counterpart. This can help Canada to bolster its production to meet the demands of Europe.
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“G7 members must fully ban imports of Russian energy – oil, coal, natural gas, uranium. Canada, with the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves and as a top-three uranium producer, can help fill the gap,” wrote a professor from the University of Toronto in his research piece.
However, there are challenges with the production as Russia has an output of 9 million barrels per day. On the other hand, G7 member Canada’s production is at 5 million barrels per day. Russia can also generate 10 million bpd without major effort but that’s not the case for Canada.
Canada has notorious red tape in the energy industry and also faces challenges from climate change activists. Russia, which has a dictator-styled leadership under Vladimir Putin faces no such challenges and is free to increase production. The leadership of G7 countries changes every four to five years and with that comes significant policy changes. Therefore, the chances of the G7 member Canada surpassing Russia in the oil and gas industry remain slim.
