Activist Claim: 350.org launches letter writing campaign aimed at lobbying government to add another tax on oil and gas.
The Facts: Oil and gas companies generate billions in government revenue, and are investing heavily into carbon tech to lower emissions.
The Source:
Tax Big Oil to Fund a Just Transition
Here are some facts and sources to have a reasonable conversation about more oil and gas taxes:
- Canada’s oil and gas royalty and tax regime already provides for windfall taxes on profits. According to RBC, oil and gas companies will pay $48 billion to governments in 2022, a 200% increase from 2021. Royalties and taxes are estimated to reach $64 billion in 2023.
https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/who-needs-a-windfall-tax-oil-and-gas-companies-poured-48-billion-into-government-coffers-this-year-says-rbc
- Canada’s energy industry paid over $505 billion in federal, provincial and local taxes, and royalties, since 2000.
https://www.canadianenergycentre.ca/72-facts-about-oil-and-gas-a-summary-research-brief/
- A recent report from a global consulting firm, Wood Mackenzie, shows Canada is leading in carbon reduction tech. If all proposed projects came online, they could reduce up to 115 million tonnes of CO2, or 60% of Canada’s 2030 goal of 200 million tonnes reduced. Along with other measures, this helps reduce our emissions output even more.
https://www.mining.com/canada-a-global-leader-in-carbon-capture-report/
https://www.woodmac.com/reports/energy-markets-canadian-carbon-capture-credentials-504389
- Canada is a world leader in carbon tech, investing heavily to reduce impacts of oil and gas production and maintain valuable benefits. According to the U.N.’s International Panel on Climate Change, carbon tech solutions will capture almost as many emissions as renewables will reduce by the end of the century.
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/srccs_chapter8-1.pdf
- Carbon tech is an emerging market that will help reduce emissions across the entire energy system. This is expected to become a trillion-dollar global market that activists will ignore as an opportunity for Canada.
https://thunderbird.asu.edu/sites/default/files/khagram-gcr-market-report-2020_0.pdf
Stories that get it right
LNG Canada, country’s $40-billion ‘second chance’ at becoming a global LNG leader, takes shape
An export terminal on the West Coast providing access to global markets would be a game-changer for Canadian producers who have been maxing out the volumes they can push into the U.S. Midwest and Eastern Canada, said Richard Frey, an analyst with S&P Global Commodity Insights. In 2021, Canada exported an average of 7.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas to the U.S. and imported 2.2 Bcf/d.
“There’s really not a whole lot of room to do anything more beyond what they’re sending right now,” Frey said. “So this will be an additional outlet and a large outlet at that, too. If North American prices remain high … it could easily grow production by two (billion cubic feet of natural gas) per day.”
