In that light, Scotiabank commodity economist Rory Johnston said Canadian fossil producers might see renewed discussion about secure crude oil supplies. “Historically, we’ve seen more of the sentiment toward the Canadian oil sector as being couched in terms of oil security, which as a concept has kind of fallen by the wayside,” he told CBC. “This will likely raise that energy security narrative back to the forefront of public discussion, which all else equal, should benefit the Canadian oilpatch as a source of secure supply—politically secure, and right next door to the United States.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney echoed that message, tweeting that “the strike on Saudi refineries should be a wake-up call” and touting Alberta as “the most secure major source of energy” in the world.
Kenney was also looking at scaling back the province’s oil production cuts and allowing Canadian fossils to increase their exports, CBC and the Globe and Mail reported. But Judith Dwarkin, chief energy economist at RS Energy Group, said the world’s existing oil stockpiles plus the recent scale of U.S. production should be enough to limit the impact of the drone strike on global oil prices.