Another week brings another plan from Premier Rachel Notley to bolster the province’s ailing oil and gas industry.
But instead of sounding like a premier willing to make hard decisions when faced with an oil price crisis, she is now coming across as desperate to appease voters who will be heading to the polls in 2019.
While the election campaign hasn’t officially kicked off yet, Notley’s numerous public appearances spouting the NDP’s strategies to aid oil producers give a different impression.
Following on the heels of the government’s recent order for oil producers to curtail production by 8.7 per cent as of Jan. 1, the premier has now put out feelers to the private sector to gauge interest in building or expanding a refinery in Alberta.
The only refinery to be built in Alberta in the past 30 years is the Sturgeon Refinery in Sturgeon County, which was constructed with help from the provincial government. That project’s cost ballooned from an originally estimated $4 billion to $9.7 billion.
Notley, who gave a deadline of Feb. 8 for expressions of interest, had few details to offer – including how the government would support such a project.
Quite a difference from her Nov. 28 announcement that the government would buy 7,000 railcars to get more oil to buyers – and from Dec. 2, when she outlined a strong rationale for the NDP’s year-long plan to chop oil production until the 35 million barrels currently in storage in this province are shipped to market.
Imposing a curtailment was a bold move that had the desired effect on slumping oil prices, which have since surged. The move enhanced Notley’s image as she and the rest of the NDP get ready to enter an election year. Her decision to purchase railcars also indicated the premier had given careful thought to finding fixes to an ongoing crisis.
But the gains she has been making in recent weeks stalled with Tuesday’s refinery announcement, which has been met with skepticism from industry experts.
They point out the province has more refinery capacity than it needs right now and it still doesn’t solve the major problem – the shortage of pipeline infrastructure needed to get a glut of oil to tidewater ports.
Notley seems to have been in such a rush to prove to Albertans that the NDP can guide the province through this oil price crisis that she made a pitch that wasn’t well thought out.
After leading Alberta for the past three and a half years, and after much consultation with oil and gas representatives during that time, Notley should have a handle on what the best course of action is – no matter how difficult – to aid a struggling industry.
Notley needs to focus her efforts on the push for pipelines – not just Trans Mountain, but also on the fight for significant changes to Bill C-69 (the so-called Anti-Pipeline bill) and a bill banning tanker traffic on the northern B.C. coast, both of which are currently before the Senate.
She must keep hammering Trudeau and the Liberal government on this critical issue to ensure Alberta’s oil gets to the coast and on to foreign markets, where it will fetch better prices.
That’s the best chance for Albertans – and could be the best shot the NDP has at winning another term.
- reprinted from the St. Albert Gazette, a Great West newspaper
