Last week’s visit to Canada by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did little to help ease his country’s energy crisis. Germany desperately needs Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) now, not hydrogen that won’t be available in smallish quantities until years from now.
The visit also opened more wounds with Alberta, as the prime minister scoffed there is no “business case” for LNG exports to Germany — a comment that surprised many participants at the Canadian Energy Executive Association Forum held in Banff last Thursday. If anyone can judge whether LNG will be profitable or not, it’s an oil and gas industry willing to invest billions of dollars in it. The real reason Canada still does not have LNG exports today is not the “business case” but the “political case”: federal regulations focused on GHG emissions to the exclusion of Canada’s interest in contributing to the world’s energy and security needs.
