Canada Eyes EU Energy Partnership Amid Global Supply Tensions

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney met with European Union leaders in Strasbourg to discuss strengthening ties and bolstering Europe's energy security. The EU has been diversifying its energy imports following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Canada is seen as a potential new partner.

R.J. Johnston, director of energy and natural resources policy at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said that while there are no immediate plans to export oil or gas from Eastern Canada to Europe, European companies can secure stable gas supplies through swap contracts. These contracts allow cargo headed to Asia to be traded with another one half a world away.

Werner Antweiler, an economist at the University of British Columbia, said that while Canada has pipelines and port infrastructure to export oil and gas from the West Coast to Asia, it's unclear whether a European player would commit to a project like the Northern Shield Energy Corridor. This corridor is a proposed plan to ship Alberta crude to refineries in Sarnia, Ont., with potential new export paths via the Atlantic.