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Mark Carney has vowed to work with Canada’s oil business to spice up manufacturing and cut back emissions, as the brand new prime minister touts an financial agenda to face down Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
He met senior oil executives in current days, extending an olive department to a sector that had turn into hostile to the Liberal authorities in Ottawa beneath Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau.
Carney provided tentative backing for brand new pipelines and a multibillion-dollar venture to seize carbon from Alberta’s oil sands, describing a “grand cut price” to assist new vitality exports whereas lowering emissions.
“There’s actual potential there,” the prime minister mentioned in Saskatoon, a metropolis within the western province of Saskatchewan, on Monday.
“We may give ourselves way over any overseas authorities can ever take away,” he mentioned. “So we’re ready the place we will construct massive, construct daring, construct one Canadian financial system and construct now.”
The overture to the oil sector marks a shift for Carney, who warned of the local weather dangers related to fossil gas manufacturing whereas governor of the Financial institution of England.
Extra lately he was a champion of world decarbonisation efforts as co-chair of the Glasgow Monetary Alliance for Internet Zero, which mobilised $130tn in personal capital for climate motion.
Canada’s oil manufacturing is among the many drivers of its financial system, however executives have chafed at Ottawa’s restrictions on efforts to construct new pipelines to assist extra development and break their dependence on US markets.
Carney has additionally endorsed efforts to search out new markets for his nation within the wake of Trump’s tariffs and hostility, together with claims that Canada ought to turn into a 51st state. Canada is by far the largest overseas provider of oil to the US, which accounts for nearly all of Canadian vitality exports.
The prime minister, who has vowed to hurry up approvals for brand new initiatives, spoke with provincial leaders about easy methods to prioritise plans that carry “funding to make Canada into an vitality superpower and to construct the strongest financial system within the G7”.
Carney staged a outstanding electoral victory earlier this 12 months, tapping anti-Trump sentiment and vowing to shore up the financial system to outlive a commerce warfare. His pledge to make Canada an “vitality superpower” was a standard chorus on the marketing campaign path.
However he’s additionally dealing with opposition in western provinces which have lengthy objected to Ottawa’s rules, particularly on vitality and local weather. Carney’s election victory in April has reinvigorated Alberta’s separatist motion which needs an area referendum on the difficulty.
Carney’s outreach efforts have gained some approval in Calgary, Alberta, the nation’s oil capital.
“We now have recognised and admire the numerous change in tone from prime minister Carney’s new federal authorities,” mentioned Lisa Baiton, chief govt of the Canadian Affiliation of Petroleum Producers.
Baiton mentioned they had been additionally “very inspired” by the appointment of vitality minister Tim Hodgson, who was previously at Goldman Sachs and MEG Power, one other oil producer in Alberta.
About C$26bn (US$18.9bn) price of recent oil initiatives are beneath building in Canada and greater than C$100bn price of deliberate initiatives or these ready for a remaining funding choice, in response to Capp.
Carney on Sunday met Canada’s vitality sector leaders in Saskatoon to speak up his formidable agenda to revitalise the financial system and reboot federal relations with firms and leaders within the nation’s west.
A senior govt at one of many firms that met the prime minister mentioned there was “cautious optimism” over his stance.
Oil firms in western Canada have pushed a C$20bn venture, known as Pathways Alliance, as a strategy to cut back the emissions related to producing crude that’s thought-about among the many most carbon-intensive on the earth.
Alberta’s conservative premier Danielle Smith has sought to hyperlink federal authorities assist for brand new export pipeline initiatives to the plan to seize carbon from the oil sands.
“It will value anyplace from C$10bn to C$20bn to get this constructed,” Smith mentioned, referring to the carbon-capture venture. “If we had 1,000,000 barrels a day pipeline going to the north-west British Columbia coast, that may generate about C$20bn a 12 months in income.”
Carney mentioned “decarbonised Canadian oil and fuel” should get to international markets, together with Asia and Europe, after the emissions related to its extraction had been captured in Alberta.
Different executives had combined critiques about Carney’s technique with the oil firms.
“I advised the prime minister that the federal authorities has bought it half proper,” mentioned Adam Waterous, chair of Strathcona Assets, Canada’s fifth-largest oil producer.
He praised Ottawa’s “carrots”, similar to assist for the oil business’s carbon seize initiatives, however criticised “sticks” similar to laws proscribing new cross-country pipelines.
François Poirier, chief govt of TC Power, one of many largest North American pipeline firms, has not jumped on the likelihood to advertise new initiatives due to the related prices.
“The prime minister has proven in early conversations since being elected to be fairly pragmatic,” he mentioned.
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