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To: Rocket Red who wrote (109755)	10/6/2002 1:15:35 PM
From: Jim Bishop	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 150070

Energy grabs center stage in Canada's government Sunday October 6, 12:48 pm ET By Jeffrey Jones CALGARY, Alberta, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien has put top staff in charge of oil and gas issues like the Kyoto accord and Arctic gas, giving energy a profile not seen in Ottawa since the 1980s, a veteran industry watcher said. Oil officials said they hoped the attention leads to compromises to ease tension between their sector and Ottawa and allow billions of dollars worth of projects to proceed as Canada's role as a secure supplier to the United States grows. The senior bureaucrats have their work cut out for them with the industry and Alberta, the main oil-producing province, waging a public relations war against Chretien's decision to ratify the Kyoto accord on global warming. In his latest newsletter, industry commentator Ian Doig reported Chretien's office had taken over top responsibility for northern pipelines, with his closest adviser, Eddie Goldenberg, handling issues related to the proposed C$4 billion ($2.5 billion) Mackenzie Valley pipeline project. Former Paris- and Calgary-based TotalFinaElf (Paris:TOTF.PA - News) executive Robert Skinner, a one-time energy department staffer, was put in charge of responding to any pipeline to tap Alaskan gas, which would run mostly through Canada. Doig also noted George Anderson, deputy to Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, has been Ottawa's point man on Kyoto for the oil industry and Alberta for the past few months. Anderson, a veteran of energy and government issues, is no lightweight, one industry official said. "He's a very politically savvy person who's been in senior positions around the bureaucracy in Ottawa for quite awhile, so he is very well plugged into the prime minister's office as well as other departments," said Greg Stringham, vice president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the industry's main lobby group. Energy's elevated profile shows its economic importance may not be lost on Chretien, even with Canada set to ratify Kyoto, which industry warns will kill competitiveness if it is forced to bear high costs of cutting emissions, Doig told Reuters. "And it puts the government in a better position when the United States starts to make their moves in a week or two with regard to Alaska (in its long-awaited energy bill)," he said. Canada has lobbied hard against subsidies for an Alaska line, as proposed in the Senate version of the bill. For Ottawa, the most divisive issue by far is Kyoto. JEOPARDIZES ENERGY INVESTMENT Several major companies have started, or have announced plans for, projects aimed at doubling within 10 years output of synthetic crude wrung from Alberta's vast oil sands, and some have warned they may scale back investments over Kyoto. Last week, the largest single oil sands producer, Suncor Energy Inc. (Toronto:SU.TO - News), said a compromise for the high-emission projects was achievable, through measures like tax incentives. "We believe the government is trying to think of all sorts of things to enable them to implement their climate change initiatives, and also ensure that we can be competitive on an international basis," Suncor spokesman John Rogers said. "What we're trying very hard for them to do is to get some clarity into this thing. It is harming our ability to attract capital, particularly international capital, to the company." A main oil industry beef is that Ottawa has yet to detail its plans for cutting emissions of such gases as carbon dioxide and methane, caused by production and burning of fossil fuels, leaving developers and investors mired in uncertainty. Chretien has promised a plan by the time federal and provincial ministers meet on the issue on Oct. 21. There has been no dealing behind the scenes on potential compromises yet, but industry sources said intense talks with Anderson and his staff were expected after the meeting. Meanwhile, oil officials said they were impressed by Ottawa's moves to remove barriers to building pipelines in the north, which in the past were threatened by wrangling between government departments and the need for myriad approvals. Stringham said Chretien's mention of the issue in his major policy speech opening the new session of Parliament last week was key, as were recent moves by the National Energy Board to simplify regulations by having several agencies work together. "That could trim down the time for the regulatory process on at least a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, and that is good news for the proponents that are up there," he said. ($1=$1.59 Canadian) biz.yahoo.com