‘No peak in oil demand on the horizon’: Energy industry on growing oil and gas production

While there’s optimism about increasing oil and gas projects in Canada as the U.S. continues its trade war, those at Calgary’s Global Energy Show say the focus shouldn’t be on transitioning away from oil and gas, but rather using it to meet demand.

“There is no peak in oil demand on the horizon,” OPEC’s secretary general Haitham Al Ghais told a crowd in Calgary on Tuesday, adding that not only is global demand for oil growing, it’s far from reaching its peak.

“The core objective of the Paris Agreement is about reducing emissions, not choosing energy sources,” he says. “OPEC member countries also recognize the importance of investing in renewable sources of energy believe it or not.”

It’s something the energy industry in Canada is agreeing with.

“What you’re really seeing is a shift away from that energy transition language, where there is a perception that one industry will go away and get surpassed by another,” says Lisa Baiton, CEO of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

While they’re welcoming Prime Minster Mark Carney’s pledge to make Canada an “energy superpower,” they say without policy change, there won’t be a buy-in from the private sector to embark on major projects, like a pipeline across the country.

“Investors won’t invest somewhere where there is no regulatory certainty, and we haven’t had that,” says Baiton. “I think the number one thing we need to focus on is really having a major policy reset.”

Gary Mar is the CEO of Canada West Foundation, a non-profit think tank, he says people are not optimistic yet.

“They’ll be optimistic when they see what action the government takes that matches the words that they’ve spoken,” he says.

Calgary’s mayor says she spoke with Al Ghais about how Canada can play a bigger role in filling that energy demand, as she also calls for a more streamlined approach for approvals of projects.

“We need to be better at getting our product to market and we need to understand the impact that we can have in places like Asian countries where they are currently using coal,” she says.

Earlier this month, newly-minted Prime Minister Mark Carney met with more than two-dozen oil and gas executives in Calgary to hear what they had to say about his proposals for the country’s energy sector.

Carney has said on multiple occasions he wants the sector to succeed, and campaigned on expediting reviews of major energy projects.

The Global Energy Show rebranded from the Global Petroleum Show in 2020, in an effort to highlight the number of non-oil-and-gas participants in the energy sector, such as nuclear and renewables firms.

The 2025 version of the event runs until Thursday at the BMO Centre.