Canada To The Rescue? Alberta Officials Say They Can Fill The Russian Oil Void As Gas Prices Skyrocket

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would ban imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and coal in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While many Americans support the move on a moral basis, gas prices in the U.S. are expected to continue to skyrocket.

However, help may be closer to home than we think. Officials in Alberta Canada, the nation's large oil-producing province, says they are willing to take the place of Russian crude oil imports.

Alberta is home to the ill-fated Keystone Pipeline that Biden effectively shut down as one of his first acts in office.

On Monday, Alberta's Minister of Energy Sonya Savage responded to electric car producer Elon Musk, "Alberta is the answer to U.S. energy security. Real emissions reductions, reliable, right next door."

Savage was responding to Musk's call for the U.S. government to increase production here at home, even at the expense of his own electric car company, Tesla.

Officials from the Biden administration have spent quite a bit of time recently begging oil-producing nations who are not exactly friendly to the U.S. for help. They went to Venezuela this past weekend for talks on potentially selling Venezuelan oil on the international market.

U.S. officials have also been in contact with Saudi Arabia about an increase in production. That could be the next visit for the Biden administration. There has also been some talk of oil with Iran.

The obvious selling point with Canadian oil is that the U.S. does not have to deal with hostile nations.

Also on board with marketing Canadian oil as an alternative to Russian oil is Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. He stated that he and Savage would be attending an energy conference in Houston later in the week, and that,

 “We will be meeting with decision-makers to secure access to markets, attract job-creating investment to our province, and argue for Canadian energy to displace Russian conflict oil.”

Kenney added that he would welcome a visit from Joe Biden to discuss Canadian oil.

Americans are preparing to feel even more pain at the gas pump. But a convenient fact is being overlooked. Gas prices were on the rise before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. 

In 2019 under Donald Trump, America was producing 12.3 million barrels of oil a day. Rapid increases in America's gas prices have been the norm since Trump's departure.