Western Standard - What's next？ New pathways forward

00:00:00.000 Hello, Western Standard viewers, my name is Sean Polzer, and we're coming at you today with

00:00:18.580 something we like to call business standard, taking care of business, where we talk about

00:00:22.860 some of the big issues and business stories of the day. So after an extremely hectic week,

00:00:29.360 We've had an election, we've had pronouncements from the Premier, we've had a crash in oil prices.

00:00:36.320 We've had just all kinds of things happening.

00:00:38.960 And we're going to catch up today with Gurpreet Lail, who's the president and CEO of NSERVA.

00:00:44.980 For some of you folks that don't know, NSERVA is the Energy Services Association of Canada,

00:00:49.760 who is formerly PSAT, the Petroleum Services Association.

00:00:53.940 Big in the community, huge backers of Starz Air Ambulance and other causes, among others.

00:01:00.240 Anyway, Grapeet is an advocate for Canadian energy, and she's been quite busy since the election in Washington, D.C.,

00:01:08.100 talking about tariffs, talking about the incoming government,

00:01:11.220 some of the things that the new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is going to have to do to set things straight here in Alberta

00:01:17.140 with not only the energy sector, but also Canada-U.S. relations.

00:01:21.580 uh stay tuned for that because uh it turned out to be a really excellent interview and

00:01:26.620 i i'm sure that you'll enjoy it um last week i also had the chance to attend the

00:01:32.620 canadian hydrogen conference in edmonton where i spoke with nick simain who is the head of dmg

00:01:38.620 media events who not only did they put on the show but they are going to be putting on the

00:01:43.660 global oil and gas show here in calgary i don't know if they call it the oil and gas show i think

00:01:47.980 they call it the global energy show gs and that's coming up in june and we're going to be taking a

00:01:53.820 big part and a big role in that show with nick we've got all kinds of features planned for it

00:01:59.980 so stay tuned for for that interview as well which was admittedly pre-recorded in edmonton

00:02:06.860 but we talk a little bit about hydrogen some of the upcoming developments in alternative energies

00:02:11.580 entrepreneurs that are emerging in space and then kind of shifted over to what's going to be

00:02:19.980 happening here in Calgary with what is admittedly the stampede of oil and gas. So while we're at it,

00:02:27.740 we'd just like to ask you to join the conversation with us on westernstandard.news, on Facebook,

00:02:35.100 on Twitter, on all your social media. You can make comments, chip in, or even better yet,

00:02:42.020 become a member. It's only $10 a month or $100 a year, and it's probably the best value in news

00:02:48.440 that you're going to find out there. And I can tell you personally, as a member, as a former

00:02:55.180 member of the mainstream media, longtime business reporter at the Calgary Herald, along with my

00:02:59.500 colleagues here, you can't see them behind me. Dave was formerly at the Sun. Nigel was formerly

00:03:04.160 at the Herald. But now we're bringing it to you live here from the Western Standard, because

00:03:08.880 we really believe in what we do. And we really believe in the message. And we really think that

00:03:14.160 everybody should be a part of it. So here we go. And I'm with Gurpreet Lael, the head of

00:03:21.440 ANSERVO, which is the Energy Services Association of Canada. Yeah, here we are. I think last time we

00:03:28.480 saw it was at the oil show last year. Yes. And we're coming up. Yeah.

00:03:33.200 Yeah. So we've got a lot to catch up on.

00:03:38.200 Because the world hasn't been busy. The sector hasn't been busy. Not a lot to talk about.

00:03:42.560 I can't remember what I did last week. How long ago was this election?

00:03:46.440 Yeah, no kidding.

00:03:47.280 I think it was about a week ago, was it?

00:03:48.740 Yeah. Are you talking about our election, the U.S. election, what election?

00:03:51.440 Right, exactly. So prior to the election, and I think this is kind of how we got reacquainted,

00:03:56.640 was you'd written in an editorial about energy awareness ought to be on the ballot.

00:04:02.060 so i'm just wondering um what were your thoughts about some of the results what are what are your

00:04:07.740 hopes and fears for energy awareness and and what do you think our new government needs to

00:04:13.660 be focusing on so here here's what i'll say um first on energy awareness across canada

00:04:21.420 um i think there's little energy literacy outside of western canada okay and um whether

00:04:30.460 that's in schools whether that's with everyday population people just don't know and they don't

00:04:35.260 know how energy is produced they don't know how they get their energy or how it's traded how it

00:04:41.420 affects their livelihoods like how much it costs exactly and none so none of that actually translates

00:04:48.140 into any form of literacy so um i wanted to make sure that you know canadians and western canadians

00:04:54.620 were actually talking about energy and making sure that the rest of canada understood what does that

00:04:59.500 I mean, we're not this evil industry that everybody's painting us out to be, but we're

00:05:06.020 doing some amazing work and we're ensuring that your homes are heated, you have AC in

00:05:11.980 the summertime, you've got food on the table because you can't have energy security without

00:05:17.080 food security and vice versa.

00:05:18.760 So there has to be discussions like that at the dinner table with all families across

00:05:24.020 Canada, not just Western Canada.

00:05:25.380 And quite frankly, the prosperity that you see in Western Canada actually translates to economic certainty for the rest of Canada.

00:05:35.360 And the great standard of living that we have here in Canada is a lot due to the energy sector.

00:05:42.280 So we need to start elevating that message and, you know, where the election results ended and what we're doing now at the election.

00:05:52.140 um it's been a it's been a tough slot for the last decade the energy sector has been

00:06:01.280 rolling a rock uphill and it's it's come back down crashed on us and we start all over again

00:06:07.480 um but that's essentially what the mood was so when the election results came in and you know

00:06:14.580 we have another term of a liberal government there's a little bit of fear and like now what

00:06:20.840 and do we all have the same amount of energy and rigor left in us after a decade of fighting

00:06:26.520 to continue on this road if nothing changes? Now, we are hopeful that, you know, Prime Minister

00:06:34.140 Carney comes in and is going to change course in terms of talking to energy and actually bringing

00:06:39.940 us to the table and consulting with us and actually pushing some projects through that

00:06:45.840 are dire for Canadians' GDP and our economic freedom and energy security for us, not just

00:06:54.160 anybody else in the world, which we can also help with, but for Canadians.

00:06:58.580 Sure, absolutely. And I think he's committed to at least, I think, having a little bit of that

00:07:07.860 dialogue. Yeah, I think there's commitment there. I think in his... More than we've seen.

00:07:13.160 yeah but like we were saying before the show it's a pretty low bar it's a low bar when you

00:07:19.400 haven't seen anything like you've had one hurdle after another and then all of a sudden someone

00:07:23.940 gives you a little bit of inkling that there could be some change in dialogue that means a lot when

00:07:30.780 you've been you're exhausted from this huge fight where we're not just fighting for ourselves we're

00:07:35.580 fighting for the rest of Canada sure you don't see rolling blackouts for no reason right right so

00:07:42.940 unless Canadians are willing to give up some things and that are energy reliant which we've

00:07:50.360 seen through all all the research and the graphs and the economic forecast that Canadians are not 0.64

00:07:55.720 so then why do we keep bashing the industry that can provide sure and you know I would argue that

00:08:01.860 sovereignty you know which was probably the big issue in the election yeah is one of those things

00:08:06.300 because I don't think people in eastern Canada are even aware that their oil comes down through

00:08:10.920 statesman was back back up through superior was like it depends right now on a on a five kilometer

00:08:16.760 stretch pipe that's being rebuilt by the army corps of engineers well and that's where i think

00:08:21.720 when it was premier doug ford when he came out and said i'm shutting off power and we were like

00:08:28.520 and it was interesting because to see that play out like politically um we were in dc around that

00:08:34.920 time and it was you know in dc it was like oh canada actually stood up for something like

00:08:41.520 threatening us with something i'm paraphrasing but that's exactly what the mood was like i was

00:08:46.040 in houston okay and that's what people are saying it was like you know half of america just found

00:08:50.440 out where it gets its electricity from totally and that was a piece and you're like but the same

00:08:55.620 thing can happen on this side where you know um president trump can come out and have the same

00:09:01.520 threats saying, Hey, we're going to shut off energy coming out to Eastern Canada.

00:09:06.140 Sure.

00:09:06.440 Then what happens?

00:09:07.860 And people don't realize that you're not getting direct oil or direct, any form of

00:09:13.700 energy from Alberta to Eastern Canada.

00:09:17.780 Right.

00:09:18.320 It is, it goes down to the United States then comes up and around.

00:09:21.900 Right.

00:09:22.340 So, you know, now and national interest, I, I talked with Craig Gabel from Enbridge

00:09:27.300 and, you know, and those were the kinds of things he was saying, like on energies,

00:09:30.580 like he compared um so it would have been easier to get them each like a cord

00:09:37.620 you know them to get like northern gateway or to east through the thing because

00:09:41.940 it needs to be declared a national interest right like these corridors and and that is an actual

00:09:47.700 formal legal term yeah like that it's in the national interest right so that then they can

00:09:53.540 work on on building you know it strikes me though like even if carney were to do all these things

00:09:58.580 tomorrow that it's still going to take a certain amount of time you know what i mean it probably

00:10:02.500 is going to take a term i would think before how not necessarily i would say i mean so building

00:10:10.420 new infrastructure i don't think it would take a full term per se but we have existing infrastructure

00:10:16.500 that we can actually start pushing through right you look at phase two lng and you're looking at

00:10:21.220 imperialism project we have indigenous engagement partnerships and there's capacity there like yeah

00:10:28.420 they have to do some equipment reform reformation on there that could take 18 months maybe max but

00:10:36.020 that's something that you know we can stop with the regulatory hurdles and say yeah we're pushing

00:10:40.420 this through and that creates jobs that creates more economic freedom on both sides for companies

00:10:48.580 for Canadians and for Indigenous engagement.

00:10:50.940 And I would almost argue that it would be better for bilateral relations

00:10:54.340 if Canada were more independent and if we had a little more maybe to offer

00:10:59.560 in terms of these kinds of discussions and then also independence.

00:11:04.580 But we shouldn't overlook the fact that the United States is going to be

00:11:08.340 our number one ally and customer.

00:11:11.500 Like full stop, right?

00:11:13.480 Like there's this rhetoric out there that we can just go to Europe

00:11:17.560 and survive and not do trade with the united states there is no good outcome out of that

00:11:23.720 for canadians like we have to get back to the table and bridge that that relationship with

00:11:30.760 the u.s because we're so interdependent right with one another well yes and especially in

00:11:36.440 energy yeah and yeah i think this is something that even president trump feels to grasp the

00:11:42.680 you know, the total enormity of like, yeah, you've got a lot of oil in Alaska,

00:11:46.100 but it still has to come down.

00:11:48.740 Exactly.

00:11:49.540 And I think he's starting, I mean, I shouldn't be talking about President

00:11:52.500 Trump, but from what we've heard around his advisors and just being in DC is

00:11:57.180 that everybody around him understands and, you know, it's just a matter of, of

00:12:04.040 that sinking in to other pockets and to, to President Trump himself.

00:12:09.800 Um, but everybody gets it, business gets it.

00:12:12.680 senators get it congressmen get it like everybody understands how integral energy is

00:12:19.220 north america it's not just unleashing american energy they're going to need canadian well of

00:12:25.060 course um at the end of the day and that's that's not just on on actual product that's on

00:12:31.220 on you know services services like our human capital we have we're crews that go back and

00:12:37.880 forth consistently we've got equipment that goes back and forth we have product that gets

00:12:42.880 manufactured here built there back and or vice versa manufactured there comes here we build it

00:12:49.660 up and then we ship it out to whether it's alaska or other designations it is very intricate on all

00:12:57.960 forms of equipment manufacturing even chemicals sure like all facets of so how do tariffs affect

00:13:03.980 that then like if i'm a canadian company like um i work briefly for packers plus i've got a big

00:13:11.100 manufacturing thing down in houston and you know they're doing a lot of cross-border work uh

00:13:16.780 precision it seems to me you know big drilling companies uh well testing i have another buddy

00:13:22.260 who's a well tester and they do stuff in the bakken and manitoba as well as so how does that

00:13:27.640 work with the with the tariffs like what if you're a canadian company and you're performing those

00:13:31.600 kind of services in the U S like, would you be subject to those tariffs?

00:13:34.360 So you're subject on, we have more of a threat to business on the Canadian

00:13:41.440 retaliatory tariffs than we do on the U S so the retaliatory tariffs actually

00:13:47.440 tariff product that we can't, some of the product we can't actually get in Canada.

00:13:52.360 Sure.

00:13:52.900 So a prime example of that is sand used for pressure pumping.

00:13:58.000 Okay.

00:13:59.260 You wouldn't think sand.

00:14:00.220 you wouldn't think sand right but sand showed up on the list and we were like why is sand on the

00:14:05.660 list and then we and not only was it on the list it was mixed in in this big huge bucket of

00:14:12.720 everything sand so sand used for blasting paint off sand used for building bottles like

00:14:18.120 it's in the same category which we couldn't understand so you know in talking to finance

00:14:24.680 Canada and talking to Natural Resource Canada, it was like, well, there's nothing we can do about

00:14:30.720 it. It's categorized into this bucket. And we were like, well, if you look at the amount of

00:14:37.260 money that our companies spend on getting sand from Wisconsin, because that's where we're

00:14:42.540 procuring it from, there's no viable Canadian solution currently today. They're working on it.

00:14:49.040 It's got to be milled, and it's got to be cleaned, and it's got to be...

00:14:52.880 And we don't even have like tonnage to some spec.

00:14:55.820 Exactly.

00:14:57.020 So it's like, okay, but if you can't source it in Canada, why are you tariffing us?

00:15:02.040 Your retaliatory tariffs were supposed to be in quotations to harm, not harm,

00:15:09.380 but provide some angst to the American population.

00:15:12.320 Right.

00:15:12.620 And they were supposed to be targeted.

00:15:14.360 Exactly.

00:15:15.380 So you're not targeting American companies, you're targeting Canadians and you're

00:15:19.480 talking targeting service companies

00:15:21.640 right now where we're just trying

00:15:22.780 to make sure people have jobs and

00:15:25.120 we're actually getting work done.

00:15:27.340 Well, you know, our productivity,

00:15:29.140 right?

00:15:29.440 Yeah, well, and that's our

00:15:30.520 productivity.

00:15:31.260 That was the other piece.

00:15:31.920 We're like, so do you understand

00:15:33.860 how energy is extracted?

00:15:36.100 And like, that's how granular we

00:15:38.620 had to get to explain why this is

00:15:41.380 important.

00:15:42.280 At the end of the day, we still,

00:15:43.420 we went through a remission process

00:15:45.100 and we're still going through it

00:15:46.300 with, with the feds, but it's

00:15:49.480 What people need to understand is the retaliatory

00:15:51.660 tariffs are not, from our industry's point of view,

00:15:54.860 are not hurting American companies, they're hurting us.

00:15:57.480 Right, because everybody seems to think it's a,

00:16:00.320 you know, they talk about the export tax on oil,

00:16:03.220 but yeah, like you said, like components and parts

00:16:06.260 and on rigs and on testing equipment, tubing.

00:16:10.020 There's like specialized, exactly.

00:16:12.580 There's specialized equipment that we only get

00:16:14.660 from the United States because of the quality

00:16:16.420 that we get from the United States.

00:16:17.600 Some of the stuff you can get from China or somewhere else, but then the quality is not there.

00:16:23.380 Right.

00:16:23.600 And, you know, if we're on this whole thing around making sure that we are responsibly produced, that human rights actually matter.

00:16:34.060 Right.

00:16:34.560 And, you know, the social license to operate, if that actually matters, why would you be pushing Canadian companies into non-democratic countries to do trade?

00:16:46.200 Sure.

00:16:46.600 like that makes no sense like yeah well and that

00:16:50.560 apparently was the rationale at one point was free and transparent trade

00:16:55.960 fair trade right yeah it's no longer fair trade on on people who mess with their currencies and

00:17:04.480 they play all these games with uh like you said sales taxes yeah duties and imports well just

00:17:12.140 look at what happens in the markets the minute tariffs get announced from the United States.

00:17:16.380 Right? Like it's just volatility that nobody needs right now.

00:17:19.580 Yeah. Uncertainty is the big enemy, right?

00:17:22.700 Exactly. And like when you're on this side of the border and you hear

00:17:27.100 statements made on the other side of the border, it's drill baby drill.

00:17:31.500 It doesn't actually translate down to business where it's drill baby drill, right? Like

00:17:36.060 you actually have to take into account what the pricing is. Are people actually going to

00:17:39.500 invest in more production are rigs going to be working is there going to be drilling activity

00:17:44.860 what does that look like that all goes down exactly so there is no like everybody's talking

00:17:50.700 about all the united states is like drill baby deal no that's that's a tagline but that's not

00:17:55.580 actually coming out on the other side and as actual proof that there's actually more activity

00:18:00.540 taking place matter of fact most people are are projected to be having less activity than they

00:18:05.820 did even last year sure yeah well i don't know that's the reason right yeah like if you if you

00:18:11.020 got x amount of inflation well and i mean i was doing a story today it was basically on the oil

00:18:17.260 price in the provincial budget right because uh 750 million dollar sensitivities on every dollar

00:18:22.860 up or down on wti but then every dollar on the differential is you know 590 million or whatever

00:18:30.380 it is right now so and then tossing currency and everything else it's a very complex thing

00:18:36.460 it's super complex so even like you know you look at prime minister carney's you know his

00:18:44.140 what he's projecting is is going to be debt it's a huge number but is he gonna like what i'm going

00:18:51.100 to be curious to see we're going to be pushing for that for our our members is that what are

00:18:56.060 you going to are you going to go into 150 million dollar debt for what are you going to invest in

00:19:02.220 energy projects that will actually result in right higher gdp more jobs for canadians

00:19:10.220 or are you going to invest in something that you know what you're just servicing more debt onto

00:19:16.940 debt that's not gonna it's not creating new jobs it's not putting back into the gdp it's not helping

00:19:21.820 secure canada for energy which then also doesn't secure canada for food security so

00:19:29.900 what's the deal here and that's where i think it's the the

00:19:34.380 pedal's gonna hit the road metal's gonna hit the road is what is what do you what are you actually

00:19:39.500 going to utilize and what are you going to put the money towards and call it as debt that can

00:19:45.260 actually bring money back or are you just doing it to right because there's good debt there's bad

00:19:49.660 debt right exactly credit card debt's bad uh mortgage that if you're building a house and

00:19:54.140 paying your dad a house and family and all that kind of thing that's good that's good debt like

00:19:57.660 i'm a fiscal conservative through and through like debt is not in my vocabulary in terms of

00:20:02.620 oh let's just print money right but at the end of the day if you are going to tell us that you are

00:20:08.140 going to increase our debt then also tell us great what is that going to do is the increase in debt

00:20:15.180 going to actually provide an avenue for us to put back to our gdp is it going to create jobs for

00:20:20.940 canadians secure our energy secure food security for canadians sovereignty or what right are you

00:20:29.820 just putting debt at bad good debt after bad debt like what's what's happening here like we've been

00:20:35.020 doing for the last 10 15 minutes exactly so like nobody wants any of that anymore and what projects

00:20:40.700 are you going to do like we always talk about the environment and but nobody talks about the fact

00:20:47.020 of the strides that we've made in the sector on the environment and where we are today sure and

00:20:53.660 how can we actually help the rest of the world with their emissions and their environmental

00:20:59.660 reporting right with our product export those standards exactly but no one's talking about

00:21:05.260 about that it's like oh well we have to do this for the environment so how does uh and server

00:21:11.340 fitness so when i i started daily oil bullets in like way back in the day and it was peace

00:21:16.000 yeah and and the stars was always a a big thing that you guys did and i noticed that you mentioned

00:21:21.360 it so like over the years how how has the role you know energy services is it's kind of like the

00:21:27.520 edge of the wedge in the oil patch right it's like the leading edge of technology and innovation

00:21:33.220 and driving down costs like you said productivity right uh more meters for less money drilled

00:21:39.540 yeah and and all those things so how how has your rule evolved like is it more advocacy now is it

00:21:47.100 so i think within when we were branded within serva it was it was actually purposeful in terms

00:21:53.180 of encompassing all of our members and before 40 plus years ago when psac first started you know

00:22:00.280 we were just it was strictly for oil and gas right and that was we're the service side roger

00:22:06.000 yeah roger susie and it was you know we need our own voice which is fantastic and you know we got

00:22:13.160 to 40 years and then it was time to rebrand and freshen up the association to also talk about

00:22:20.480 okay we're we're the supply chain for energy below ground above ground and in the air it still

00:22:27.600 are members that actually come up with the technology and innovation and testing of it all

00:22:32.940 to make all of this happen. And honestly, I just didn't want another acronym and I didn't want to

00:22:39.960 go from PSAC to ESAC. I was like, nothing SAC. So we came up with Inserba. So we're in service

00:22:46.480 of our members and we're the Energy Service Association. And where we've evolved to today

00:22:52.700 we do a lot more advocacy on behalf of the service sector the manufacturing sector um and we you know

00:23:01.020 make sure our voice as little as it is it's loud and it's heard and we're also doing it across

00:23:06.400 north america like this is where i want to make sure that everybody collaborates that the canadian

00:23:13.080 energy message has to be heard collectively whether you're in canada or in the united states

00:23:19.720 we're not segregating any messaging here energy is required we need to have a secure energy

00:23:27.040 infrastructure within Canada to help the rest of the world and that's where Inserva plays a huge

00:23:32.060 role in that and then we also give back so our members and the whole industry actually comes

00:23:37.340 and supports stars in our stars and spurs gala and you know as tough as times have been like even

00:23:45.660 this year our members are not posting record profits by any means but we came out and we raised

00:23:51.740 the most amount of money we've ever raised and that was 1.7 million dollars to go back to stars

00:23:57.260 so excellent yeah well thank you very much uh grippy uh thanks for coming in and thanks for

00:24:03.100 telling your story and uh it's great chat thank you you too thank you i'm uh here with uh nix main

00:24:10.140 um head of dmg was it just dmg dmg events yeah the events and we're here in edmonton and on

00:24:18.880 for the beautiful river valley it's actually kind of a nice day yeah for a change it's a beautiful

00:24:24.380 day sean and nice to catch up here in edmonton it's i think spring is upon us but i won't jinx

00:24:29.680 the weather as we're having a trade show and we do like to have some nice weather for the many

00:24:35.500 thousands of delegates that are joining us here in Edmonton.

00:24:38.900 About how many are here at the Hydrogen Convention?

00:24:41.160 We expect between 8,000 to 10,000 people coming here from across the region here in Edmonton,

00:24:51.240 from across the energy sector, from across the province.

00:24:55.220 And we're well represented provincially, in particular from the prairies through to Ontario,

00:25:03.540 right through to Atlantic Canada.

00:25:05.500 Wow. And then in addition, as you may have seen, there's a number of international pavilions here on the show floor from all around the world and delegations here.

00:25:18.180 So it's really got an international flavor to the convention this year, which is great to see.

00:25:22.480 Excellent. So why Edmonton?

00:25:24.400 Yeah, Edmonton, when we originally launched the event, we're in our fourth year, was just some of the amazing momentum that was happening here in the region.

00:25:35.500 You've got two things, the launch of the Greater Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub, which at that time was really gaining some momentum.

00:25:44.320 And what we do at DMG is we look at markets like that.

00:25:47.500 There are some amazing independent conferences, but we look at see how we can really bring that together into one major convention, which has the opportunity to get that scale, which will start to attract across Canada and international participation and really drive some of those things that are going to be key to growing the economy, such as international investment in things like new projects, opportunities for opening up new markets.

00:26:17.500 markets, for export of our energy here, and lots of other reasons.

00:26:23.940 I mean, one of the ones that I'm most passionate about is just talking about hydrogen and what

00:26:29.060 that means to the everyday consumer and the everyday citizen here in Alberta, because

00:26:35.460 like a lot of new energy, there's just so many questions around that.

00:26:40.500 What can it do?

00:26:41.340 Is it affordable?

00:26:42.660 Right.

00:26:42.760 um who's using it and um where does that fit in with the larger energy mix right um i was talking

00:26:49.720 with premier smith um from korea she's in asia right now and she's uh talking exactly those

00:26:56.040 kinds of things about markets and uh and uses and um she said to me that uh filling stations 0.84

00:27:02.280 are starting to pop up all over korea and that there's a really huge appetite and that this

00:27:07.560 could be Alberta's next charging dollar industry. There's so much upside and to build on what the

00:27:14.360 premier was mentioning with the admin and more filling stations. And, you know, a lot of

00:27:23.240 folks talk about hydrogen in the kind of the chicken and the egg that you've got to be able

00:27:27.560 to produce it and produce it in a cost effective manner. There's lots of different conversations

00:27:34.200 about that here at the conference but um it's the demand economy and and filling stations like that

00:27:39.960 um that the premier was showcasing in korea that's really bleeding to that consumption economy

00:27:46.600 and that's the big theme of the 2025 convention here uh this year is really unlocking that um

00:27:53.960 that consumption end of hydrogen one of those really important um sides of those is uh for

00:28:00.600 for consumers themselves to power their own vehicles or businesses and and all sorts of

00:28:08.120 other applications because it's mostly been industrial a lot of industrial that's right

00:28:15.000 certainly through opportunities to decarbonize things such as aggregates manufacturing steel

00:28:23.960 agriculture. We know that when it comes to shipping, port operations, there's so many

00:28:32.080 applications. Globally, companies like Amazon, when we think of warehouses and the tens of

00:28:39.540 thousands of material handling equipment and forklifts and things like that, the applications

00:28:45.180 are really coming to fruition now

00:28:51.100 where they're being used

00:28:52.240 not just as for a first-time trial,

00:28:54.300 but expanded.

00:28:56.040 Look right here in the Eddington region,

00:28:58.500 we're seeing things like our first hydrogen home.

00:29:01.920 Yes.

00:29:02.440 That's been covered quite well in the media as well.

00:29:05.540 So that's exciting.

00:29:07.980 Yesterday here,

00:29:09.220 we had a delegation visiting

00:29:11.520 um the cp cp rail first not first hydrogen there's a couple of them but hydrogen locomotives

00:29:18.200 yep um so really starting to see those and it's really really exciting for this community that's

00:29:24.100 gathered here today to talk about um what's next and how do we continue doing the right things in

00:29:30.580 governments and private industry that right mix of international investments and and uh local

00:29:37.660 support to ensure that we continue uh this exciting growth trajectory that's uh one thing

00:29:44.460 that struck me is um like you're saying the the independent business like the this really seems

00:29:49.420 to be a grassroots uh momentum you know coming up and edmonton is kind of a place to do it because

00:29:56.700 it's like you said it's got the industry and it's got a lot of these interested and the government

00:30:01.500 smaller blares but um this show is really a precursor to the energy show in calgary this

00:30:08.460 is our yeah for dmg this is our first uh big big uh convention of the year and yes we are um

00:30:15.900 looking forward to the global energy show canada coming up uh june 10th to 12th in calgary um

00:30:22.300 which um does have a segment of hydrogen as part of that but um that event wow sean i mean that is

00:30:29.660 the entire 360 spectrum of energy that's coming together, Canada's national energy events.

00:30:40.780 The excitement is clearly building in the market there with so much going on right now,

00:30:46.540 whether that's in the day-to-day news that we sit down and follow international and domestic

00:30:54.220 politics and potential for policy. And really driving the core of that on that show, which is

00:31:02.820 the conversation, which is being hosted by Peter Mansbridge. But you can expect all of those issues

00:31:09.360 and many more to be on the table because the big, some say crossroads, I'll say question is,

00:31:16.020 what is our direction as a country going to look like over the next five years? And what's our

00:31:21.680 opportunity to really build out Canada's energy vision together. And the show will attempt to

00:31:31.460 answer some of those questions, to have the industry themselves come forward and put that

00:31:38.480 on the table. And that's going to be very powerful, we think, at the right time in June,

00:31:44.220 just post-election with some important findings that will ideally land on the desks of those

00:31:54.060 policymakers to say, here's some things we should look at as far as strengthening not just our

00:32:01.120 energy infrastructure, but things that lead to those bigger questions that Canadians are talking

00:32:07.540 about coast to coast as sovereignty and strengthening our economy and Canada's energy

00:32:13.540 opportunity i would you know i was uh just going to mention that i like what you said about it

00:32:19.140 being at a crossroads and uh it comes at a pretty good time because we've got some

00:32:25.780 lng canada we've got the trans mountain expansion so even though i would say that we're maybe a

00:32:32.260 little bit late to the party here it's uh it's at an inflection point where we could really

00:32:38.660 take it it could be a blessing in disguise well yeah um you know some of the um i mean look we

00:32:46.600 i think it's there's energy and there's the there's other resources here we know that we

00:32:51.480 are blessed here as a country with an abundance of resources we know that there's a global market

00:32:57.900 um uh that's looking to um to buy those resources and so i think a lot of the focus now is how do

00:33:06.540 we build those cost-effective modes of distribution, such as you mentioned, like LNG Canada or

00:33:14.100 war pipelines? How do we move our energy across the country, being such a magnificent, large

00:33:21.220 country? We've got, of course, many more energy resources here in Alberta. We want to get those

00:33:26.680 to markets in Canada, which are utilizing resources in many cases at a higher cost or

00:33:35.100 importing from other jurisdictions where we could be providing Canadian investment in jobs

00:33:41.540 right here for our sector. And helping them reduce their own emissions

00:33:45.860 through technology and cleaner sources of energy. That alone is Canada's LNG opportunity to, yes,

00:33:53.260 displace emissions in other parts of the world. It's a very exciting time. And back to the

00:34:01.480 the global energy show in June in Calgary that's that I think that's first order that's on the

00:34:07.700 table that we'll be talking about and you know that's what's driving I think our best conference

00:34:13.320 program and highest caliber speakers that we've seen at that event in in more than a decade sure

00:34:21.140 you know last year was pretty tough to talk thank you you know whether you know the Saudis yeah 1.00

00:34:27.200 everybody kind of came to the table yeah yeah we um we have a record as i mentioned perhaps

00:34:32.720 a record number of international pavilions but speakers uh from around the world and alongside

00:34:39.280 major ceos and policy makers um more speaker announcements to come as we do in our in our

00:34:46.640 exhibitions and some big ones uh over the next uh seven weeks as we lead into um to the global

00:34:53.360 energy show excellent and uh as you were saying too as we were talking it's not just oil and gas

00:34:58.720 you're you're saying there's going to be a big nuclear component this year yeah um the you know

00:35:03.640 the event is is strong has a strong representation from oil and gas from you know major producers

00:35:10.020 on the exhibition floor and um you know such an incredible industry represented they're

00:35:16.660 strongly supported by all the major associations in oil and gas as well but in addition to that

00:35:23.220 nuclear has become a big part of the event both delegates attending the show can expect to meet

00:35:32.400 nuclear companies from from korea who's come in with a korean nuclear association

00:35:39.760 companies like westinghouse speaking you've got x energy you've got terrestrial energy so you've

00:35:49.240 really strong representation there um and in addition to that um you know one of the conferences

00:35:55.400 taking place is the energy influencers conference uh new energy is a growing part of the event and

00:36:03.080 that um does encompass uh renewables but you're also looking at um lots of companies in the

00:36:09.000 geothermal space which has been making um quite a bit of news lately especially here in alberta

00:36:15.800 um and um and and others um so it's it's really has that full spectrum and you know at when you

00:36:23.700 walk through the exhibition floor um you know we sometimes tend to think of them as you know as

00:36:29.540 kind of separate right you know oil and gas to do but um you get those sectors in a room um they're

00:36:36.120 that alone there's a tremendous amount of uh industry collaboration investment and otherwise

00:36:42.520 Because in the end, it's all about how do we create energy that's affordable, that's secure, that's accessible, both here in Canada and then our energy that we can we can export to many parts of the world that don't have some have none of those things in their energy mix.

00:37:02.660 And we have that opportunity here in Canada to provide a bit.

00:37:06.700 Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

00:37:07.960 Yeah.

00:37:08.200 And adding value, right?

00:37:09.760 Yeah.

00:37:10.340 Yeah.

00:37:10.580 It's about it.

00:37:11.240 that's that's it that's it that's well thank you very much yeah thank you so much sean for coming

00:37:16.300 here to the canadian hydrant convention and uh please enjoy the next uh next two days it's going

00:37:21.600 to be a busy one well you know it's been an education for me being an old oil and gas guy

00:37:26.180 you know and just seeing how it evolves and changes yeah yeah thanks so much yeah thank you

00:37:31.680 yeah cheers

00:37:41.240 We'll be right back.

Western Standard - May 07, 2025

What's next？ New pathways forward

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