Andrew Nikiforuk’s piece in the July/August issue of Foreign Policy claims that Canada has become a rogue petrostate. You can read my reply, and Mr. Nikiforuk’s response to it, here.
Andrew Leach's energy and climate blog
Andrew Leach's energy and climate blog
Andrew Nikiforuk’s piece in the July/August issue of Foreign Policy claims that Canada has become a rogue petrostate. You can read my reply, and Mr. Nikiforuk’s response to it, here.
Andrew L misses a key point: For Alberta, the share of “petro” in GDP is considerably more material than it is for Canada as a whole.
Since Alberta runs Canada under its Conservative majority, Canada’s behaviour is really Albertan behaviour manifested at the national level — In short, a Petrostate Province colours all of Canada with a little bit of Chavez….
Energy Sector as share of Alberta’s GDP: 22.1%
http://www.albertacanada.com/faq-about-alberta.aspx#15
Oil as share of Venezuelan GDP: 30%
http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/171.htm
Oil as share Nigerian GDP: 20%
http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/167.htm
Chris,
Thanks for reading. A couple of points of relevance to your comments. First, as you may or may not be aware, Alberta is not a country but rather a province within Canada. Second, as you may not be aware, both Venezuela and Nigeria are countries in which the petroleum production is concentrated in specific areas. As such, your comparison of a petroleum producing jurisdiction within Canada to two entire countries omits relevant information. Should you be so inclined, might I suggest looking into the importance of oil extraction to the Niger Delta in Nigeria or to the Orinoco region of Venezuela.
Andrew