OTTAWA: Canada is seeking new customers for its crude oil as a US review of the Keystone XL pipeline drags on and oil prices languish near $50 a barrel, the country’s Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said.
Canada sells nearly all of its oil and natural gas to the US, a partnership that amounts to a $140 billion a year business, Rickford said Tuesday at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Summit in New York. A downturn that has seen oil prices fall about 50 percent will cost Canada $40 billion a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Ninety nine percent of our oil goes to the United States right now – 98 percent of our natural gas,” Rickford said. “I don’t think anyone in business would want just one customer.”
Lower crude prices have “reduced our fiscal flexibility,” he added.
Oil exports to the US will rise, peaking at 7 million to 8 million barrels a day, Rickford said. Even as sales to its largest customer increase, Canada is seeking to diversify exports.
