'Unlikely collaborations': Energy Disruptors summit kicks off in Calgary

The Energy Disruptors summit kicked off in Calgary at the Big Four on Tuesday, wrangling energy companies to discuss a path to more renewable energy.

“We're also trying to break down silos between what we felt were groups that were not necessarily mixing too well together,” said Graeme Edge, summit co-founder.

“We've got renewables, oil and gas, battery people, entrepreneurs, financiers, creatives, all in the same room, and we're almost trying to drive unlikely collaborations between those different stakeholders.”

Edge says the summit is a chance to push major companies in oil and gas to integrate and hear perspectives about reducing carbon emissions in the work they do.

“A lot of them are trying to figure out this new business. How do you make money in this space? Where do you deploy your capital?” Edge said.

“It's a bit messy at the moment, and obviously, with the whole energy security situation, it's almost as if, is this going to set us back or could that potentially accelerate this energy transition trend?”

Roland Muwanga, TC Energy vice-president of energy transition, technical and operations strategy, says his company is an energy problem solver, saying it has shifted its mindset, moving toward energy transitioning and reducing emissions.

“How things are looking out in the markets tells us that natural gas is a commodity we're going to need here for a very long time,” Muwanga said.

“Finding more innovative solutions around how we can reduce emissions of natural gas, whether you're producing it, transporting it or utilizing it, is quite critical.”

Muwanga says there's a broad scope of different skill sets in the energy industry.

“Whether you're an engineer, out in the office, or a field worker or in the accounting office, all of them have ideas and solutions that are going to help address the challenges of emissions reductions for TCSG. But more so for our customers and for future needs,” Muwanga said.

Western Texas Intermediate oil averaged around $83 per barrel on Tuesday.

With the completion of the Enbridge Line 3 replacement project last year and the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion nearing completion, Kevin Birn, chief analyst of Canadian oil markets, says recurring capacity restraints will be eased, but in the future could become tight again.

“By the time we get into the mid- to late 2020s, we think that system will be running around 90 per cent of utilization,” he said.

“This is a five-million barrel system at that point in time, which is huge. At that level of flow, it leaves very little cushion in the system to absorb upset, should any occur on midstream or downstream components where those pipelines are going to as well.”

But building more pipelines may be even trickier in the years to come.

“I think the market has largely decided that the risk posed by trying to advance new pipelines is more significant than the private markets are willing to do at this point,” Birn said.

“What we see happening over the near term and into the longer term is more aggressive competition globally from upstream players competing and dropping down that carbon intensity of the barrels they produce.

"So I think that's kind of where we see the capital going.”

With record profits and skyrocketing oil prices earlier this year, the Alberta government froze the provincial fuel tax on gasoline and diesel, reviewing it every quarter.

“Albertans currently save 13 cents on every litre of gas or diesel they purchase through the government’s Fuel Tax Relief Program,” said Paul Hamnett, press secretary to Finance Minister Jason Nixon.

The province says the tax could change depending on where the price of oil is on Oct. 1.

The summit wraps up on Thursday.