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Petro-Canada to be sold
Year Published: 1990Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX3912 Abstract: The Progressive Conservative government has announced that it intends to sell the publicly owned petroleum company, Petro-Canada. Petro-Canada was first formed in response to the OPEC oil crisis of 1973-74, when members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries quadrupled world oil prices and imposed an embargo on oil sales to the United States and some other countries. Petro-Canada was supposed to ensure that Canadians would have a secure supply of oil, which had emerged as a major concern with 90 per cent of Canada's own oil and gas industry being foreign-owned, a concern made more acute when it was revealed that U.S.-owned oil companies were diverting supplies destined for Canada to the U.S. instead. Coupled with this were other indications that the industry was more interested in immediate profits than in research and development to ensure a long-term supply of energy. Petro-Canada was also supposed to help ensure that oil and gas development resulted in spin-off benefits to Canadian engineering and other energy-related services, in contrast to the practice of the U.S.-owned companies, who automatically used the same U.S. service firms as their U.S. parent company. Petro-Canada's mandate was to accelerate oil and gas exploration, to secure cheaper oil imports, and to give Canadians a direct share in the wealth generated by energy projects. Under the Mulroney government, Petro-Canada has been told to stop pursuing its public policy mandate and to operate strictly as a commercial company. |