Alberta Not To Support Canadian Oil Embargo on the United States
Alberta PM Danielle Smith (L), and Donald Trump (C) in Florida, U.S., Jan. 2025. X/ @Rhys604
January 13, 2025 Hour: 12:34 pm
97% of Canada’s crude oil exports are destined for the U.S.
On Monday, Alberta’s Premier, conservative Danielle Smith, threatened a “national unity crisis” if Canada imposes an oil embargo on the United States.
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“We simply won’t allow it,” she said, referring to the possibility of the Canadian government responding to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs with an oil embargo.
Canada “will have a national unity crisis on its hands” alongside a crisis with the United States, added Smith, who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Saturday.
On Sunday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, who is expected to play a key role in shaping her country’s response to the U.S. tariff threat, stated that “everything is on the table” when asked if her government might embargo oil sales to the United States.
Canada is one of the world’s largest oil producers, with 84% of its oil production coming from Alberta’s oil sands. In 2024, Canada achieved a record production of 5.3 million barrels of oil per day, 80% of which was exported. Currently, 97% of Canada’s crude oil exports are destined for the United States. In 2023, 60% of the oil imported by the U.S. came from Canada.
Smith has previously threatened to push for Alberta’s independence if the Canadian government enacts measures that restrict activity in the oil sector. In 2022, she passed the “Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act,” which allows the province to ignore federal laws, although the legislation explicitly states that it is not intended to provoke Alberta’s independence from Canada.
The threat of using Canadian energy exports as leverage to counter U.S. tariffs has been raised multiple times since Trump announced his plan to impose tariffs on Canadian exports.
Several weeks ago, Ontario Premier Doug Ford also suggested retaliatory measures against the U.S., including cutting electricity exports that supply power to 1.5 million homes in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE