The 17th annual Calgary Energy Roundtable conference gathered 350 delegates from across the country on Wednesday, May 25th at the Hyatt Regency for discussions on: Technology, Innovation and Transition.
Coming out of last year’s UN climate meeting in Glasgow, Canadian climate change policy will seek to cap oil and gas emissions and fast track the electrification of the economy. However, energy transition will last for decades and traditional energy demand has returned to pre-pandemic levels. The many competing technologies in the race to net zero, and the mix of energy types that will get us there. remains unclear.
Climate change conscious Investors have become more vocal against energy sector spending, which has led to a dramatic reduction in investment in oil and gas production. With the crisis in Ukraine and sanctions on Russian energy exports, the world faces a supply crunch and the West, in particular, has received a wake-up call for energy security.
Soaring energy prices also means that Canadian producers awash in free cash flow and looking to deploy this capital, whether it be to consolidate, return it to shareholders or invest in new technologies, including those that reduce carbon emissions.
At the Calgary Energy Roundtable, a high-powered line-up of speakers shared their insights on these developments and how they are affecting the evolution of the Canadian energy sector and its role in the country’s, and the world’s, energy future.
Topics included:
• The Energy Outlook
• The Role for Canadian Energy Domestically and Abroad
• Getting to Net Zero: Implications for Canadian energy
• Technical Readiness
• Decarbonizing the grid and electrifying industry
• Fossil Energy Transition
Calgary Energy Roundtable Conference
Wednesday, May 25th, Imperial Ballroom, Calgary Hyatt Regency, 700 Centre Street South
| Conference MC | Tom Clark, Chair, Global Public Affairs | |
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| 7:20 am | Registration opens. Breakfast served | |
| 8:00 am | Opening remarks by the Hon. Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy, Government of Alberta | |
| 8:05 am | Video address: The Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources (from the G7 Energy & Climate Ministerial in Germany) | |
| 8:15 am | The case for being long on Canada energy:
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| 8:40 am | The Energy Outlook: The key question for oil and gas producers now that the world’s demand for fossil energy has come back is how long it will stay there? In the short term, the picture looks rosy. The oil sector is consolidating and has weathered the Covid storm and many Canadian oil producers have reinvented themselves from growth-oriented explorers to dividend-payers. Natural gas markets are stronger than they have been in years, and a range of initiatives, from petrochemicals to hydrogen offer promise for energy demand. Stuttering US shale production and under investment in supplies elsewhere will potentially increase the value of supplies in western, open countries like Canada. Despite skyrocketing prices for oil and gas, new energy projects are typically non-starters, as governments pledge deep decarbonization and investors sour on fossil fuels. The panel will examine how the Canadian energy sector has remained competitive in these volatile times and will provide perspectives on oil and gas development in Canada going forward.
Session chair: Keith Byblow, Partner, Blake, Cassels & Grayson LLP |
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| 9:25 am | First Nations ownership of Canadian resource projects:
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| 9:50 am | Networking break | |
| 10:20 am | Getting to Zero: Implications for Canadian Energy: Energy transition will take decades and Canada must figure out what achieving net zero practically means for the country and its energy industry. We do know that hitting net zero requires making big reductions in our emissions through shifting away from burning fossil fuels and replacing them with lower-carbon alternatives and by using new technologies that capture, store, and utilize carbon. The panel will examine the details of what net zero means for Canada and how we plan to get there.
Session chair: Kerry Black, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair, Centre for Environmental Engineering research and Education, University of Calgary |
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| 11:05 am | Fireside chat on Fossil Energy Transition:
Discussion led by: Laura Kilcrease, Chief Executive Officer, Alberta Innovates |
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| 11:35 am | Technical Readiness: Energy companies are facing an unprecedented convergence of technological, social, and regulatory forces. Area such as artificial intelligence, data and automation are reshaping standard business architectures. Technologies such as energy storage, CCUS, hydrogen and SMRs have the potential to reshape energy ecosystems. When energy technology is covered in the media, we are told about the problems with existing alternative technologies and the amazing potential of the new technology. And if this new and perfect solution is coming up, why would we bother persevering with today’s non-perfect solutions? But we rarely hear about how much risk there is that it won’t work as expected, or how long it might take until it becomes available to use. This is important because we don’t have time to wait for the future’s perfect technologies, as we need action now. The panel will discuss how we can develop more realistic expectations about new technologies and their implementation.
Session chair: Mary Hemmingson, Chief Financial Officer, Kanata Clean Power |
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| 12:15 pm | Keynote address (1:00 pm):
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| 1:30 pm | Fireside chat:
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| 2:05 pm | Decarbonizing the grid and electrifying industry. Electricity provides a tremendous potential competitive advantage in a world focused on carbon reduction, including in the resource sector. The federal government has announced specific net zero targets for the sector by 2035. The integration of high-tech solutions is creating rapidly growing markets for new products. Given this tension between legacy assets and disruptive technologies we must ensure that the system as a whole provides value and achieves decarbonization in a cost-effective manner. Panelists will discuss how Alberta’s electricity sector is reducing emissions, how electricity companies are helping industrial customers reduce their emissions and how the system as a whole needs to work together to achieve net zero targets by 2035.
Session chair: Terri-Lee Oleniuk, Partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP |
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| 3:00 pm
3:15 pm |
Close by Jason Langrish, President, The Energy Roundtable
Networking reception in the Imperial Ballroom foyer |
Click here for photos from the 2022 Calgary Energy Roundtable
Click here for photos from the 2019 Calgary Energy Roundtable
