Canada unable to save Europe after refusing Russian energy
The Canadian oil and gas industry is unable to meet the demand of the European Union in case of refusal of Russian raw materials – as stated by Washington Post columnist J. McCullough, RIA Novosti reports
“The idea of Canada saving Europe with its energy bounty is a romantic one," he stressed.
Russia owns a third of the continent's oil market, in addition to 40 percent of the gas market. According to J. McCullough, these industries have not been subject to Brussels’ restrictions since the damage would have not been in favour of the western states.
The columnist proposed to consider a scenario when the European Union refuses the daily supply of 3m barrels of oil from Russia. As he noted, Canada produces about 6m, but it exports a significant part of this volume to the United States. To compensate for the losses of the European Union from the severance of economic ties with Moscow, Ottawa needs to immediately redirect supplies from the United States to Europe or increase oil extraction. However, as the columnist believes, Canadian oilmen consider Russian indicators in this industry to be hardly achievable.
Although Canada's gas industry is better developed than its oil branch, a certain number of ships are needed to ensure a steady supply of 155bn cubic metres of raw materials to the European Union. So far, the country lacks such capacities.
