Here are the top news stories covering Canada’s energy landscape:
Big Tech Partners with Canadian Oil Sands Industry
Amazon and TC Energy announced a new partnership that could help bring the one step closer to being completed. TC Energy announced it would be moving its web-based infrastructure to Amazon’s cloud services platform, Amazon Web Services. By switching to AWS, TC Energy hopes to leverage the platform’s artificial intelligence analysis technology to make energy production more efficient for Canadian consumers:
“TC Energy is leveraging the breadth and depth of AWS services, including machine learning, analytics, database, serverless, storage, and compute to deliver energy and generate power more efficiently for millions of homes in North America.”
TC Energy initially began migrating its digital infrastructure, including SAP platform, to AWS in 2017. Within one year, TC Energy reported a 30 percent decrease in costs associated with its SAP workloads, allowing the company to reinvest in energy production technologies.
Amazon is one of the few technology companies that are taking advantage of business opportunities within the oil and natural gas industry. While companies like Google have made announcements to back off from developing technologies to support the industry, Amazon has stepped up to help Canadian energy companies innovate.
The Keystone XL pipeline is a crucial piece of infrastructure for the Canadian energy industry and economy. The project, once complete, will funnel tens of millions in property and income taxes to the Canadian government, create thousands of well-paying Canadian jobs during the construction phase, and advance continental energy security for the region.
Trans Mountain Pipeline Breaks Ground
Developers with the Trans Mountain pipeline in British Columbia say they have reached another key milestone in the project’s construction last week. A crew of about 50 construction workers broke ground on a seven-kilometre-long stretch of the pipeline in Kamloops, B.C. Ian Anderson, president and CEO of Trans Mountain, says the development will bring hundreds of jobs to the region:
“It is good news for workers in the region and an important step forward on the path to building this critical piece of infrastructure.”
Projects such as the Trans Mountain pipeline are part of the process in expanding Canada’s capacity to bring oil to market. In September 2018, Canadian crude production outpaced pipeline capacity. This discrepancy between how much oil is produced and what can be transported has led to an oversupply of oil, leading to decreased prices.
Anti-oil and natural gas activists have also inhibited the development of pipelines. Last year, activists blocked rail lines in the Port of Vancouver to stop components of the pipeline from being delivered.
Former Ambassador to the United States: End the Energy Hypocrisy
Former Canadian Ambassador to the United States Derek Burney is speaking out against some critics of the Canadian oil and gas industry in a new editorial in the National Post. In his piece Burney points to how the recent anti-pipeline rhetoric from U.S. Presidential Candidate Joe Biden is more about politics and campaign funds than the environment.
The effects of such prominent leaders making regulation promises, Burney argues, inhibit the economic growth needed as Canada begins recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Canadian producers believe that energy and economic growth are inextricably linked, and that oil and natural gas will continue to be a significant part of the energy mix for decades to come. The strength of this vital sector is essential to any prospect of recovery from the pandemic.”
Looking ahead, Burney urges the Canadian government to prioritize restoring the country’s economy, and in doing so, supporting the oil and gas industry and the Canadian communities that heavily depend on it.
For more Canadian energy news and setting the record straight on the day’s top stories about the oil and natural gas industry, visit Canadian Energy Network.
This post appeared first on Energy In Depth.
