Klein promises US industries secure energy supply

NEW YORK -- - Alberta is ready and willing to play the role of a secure supplier of energy to hungry American markets, Premier Ralph Klein said recently.

Speaking to the New York State Bar Association and Wall Street bankers, Klein dismissed an article published in the New York Times that suggested Canada was losing its ability to meet the energy demands of the U.S. market. That article said Canadian gas production is already at its maximum and it would be another five years before production can be increased.

"Look at what's available in Alaska, in the Mackenzie Delta with the pipeline, and in the oil sands," Klein said. "Alberta is home to about a quarter of the continent's total natural gas supply."

"So you shouldn't believe everything the New York Times says. After all, we all know about the problems they've had getting their facts straight."

The Alberta premier told the audience at New York's elite Union League Club that "Alberta has the energy that Canada and the United States need to ensure a secure energy future."

"What's more, we have the means to recover and move that energy to wherever it's needed."

Klein emphasized the security of the province's infrastructure over and over again in his short speech.

"Alberta's energy industry holds the promise of security and reliability for the rest of this century and beyond for all of North America," he said.

Organizers said the crowd that came to hear Klein speak was twice as large as anticipated. For many representatives of America's energy industry, his optimistic presentation seemed to be what they wanted to hear.

"There were some resonances, namely in supply security," said Jean Bazin of the law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain, which sponsored the luncheon. "With the way things are in the world now, it makes sense to be looking at Alberta."

"I think the premier's speech should help the Canadian energy industry get a lot of traction," said Ned Farrington, an executive with Software Solutions, which provides technological expertise to energy companies.

In the last 10 years, the amount of gas that Canada exports to the United States has doubled. The province of Alberta alone accounts for nearly 11 per cent of domestic oil needs within the United States and 14 per cent of its natural gas needs.