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Oil vs. LNG | 23 over the place, the water, the land. So gas development has been cleaner and easier." The deadly explosion of a train carrying crude oil through Lac-Mégantic, Québec, on July 6, which killed at least 47 people, may also shift the winds of foreign investment toward LNG. Then there are other factors. BC Premiere Christy Clark has made the development of the provincial LNG industry a crucial part of the jobs and economic development platform that won her party re-election last spring. She's also made it abundantly clear to Alberta Premier Alison Redford that her government will oppose oil-carrying pipelines from Alberta to BC unless strict environmental conditions are met and BC gets a cut of royalties. Alberta has so far rebuffed any suggestion of royalties. Canada is sitting on vast quantities of natural gas, now exploitable with new fracking technology. But with discovery of plentiful shale deposits in the US that can be cracked open with that same technology, the US market for Canadian gas has dried up. If Canadian gas can reach Asian markets in time, it will sell at large premiums to the domestic market and, for the government, bolster our GDP in easier fashion than trying to boost production and sales of oil-related energy products. That's because, while there's still plenty of North American and international demand for oil, getting Alberta crude to those markets has been a sluggish affair with current pipeline infrastructure at or near capacity. Add to that the uncertainty over the completion of any new oil pipelines, including US approval of Keystone XL, and the Canadian government has strong motivation to treat foreign investment that would help develop LNG projects here with kid gloves. Kangles, whose firm represented PETRONAS when it acquired Progress Energy in what was essentially a natural gas play, suggests LNG has another advantage in the foreign investment arena over the oil sands: "Oil sands are fairly uniquely Canadian," he says. "There aren't oil sands all over the world as we are finding with shale gas. There's oil sands here in Alberta that have been exploited." About the only other places known to have potentially exploitable oil sands are Saskatchewan and Venezuela, he adds. In other words, the oil sands are a singular, rare energy resource that Canadians can really call "ours." And that might also induce the government to keep SOEs away from the oil sands, but welcome them to LNG-related projects. "[Harper] didn't talk about natural gas, LNG development, non-conventional gas or conventional oil. He talked specifically about oil sands. I am taking that at face value. I think the government spent a lot of time coming to the decisions they came to and the explanations they came to." -Nick Kangles, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP Anthony Davis is a freelance business writer and investigative journalist in Calgary. Lexpert®Ranked Lawyers Lever, David A.N. McCarthy Tétrault LLP (416) 601-7655 dlever@mccarthy.ca Mr. Lever leads the firm's Power and Infrastructure Groups. He focuses on project and corporate finance and M&A relating to energy and infrastructure projects. He acts for developers, investors and lenders on projects in Canada and the US. Lieff, Norman B. Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP (613) 780-8611 norman.lieff@ nortonrosefulbright.com Mr. Lieff's corporate, commercial and real estate practice embraces infrastructure, financing, advice to financial institutions, securitization, acquisition and sales, liens, mortgages, franchising and personal property security matters. Liteplo, Jonathan M. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (604) 631-4994 jliteplo@fasken.com Mr. Liteplo represents participants in the electricity, oil and gas, pipeline, water, wastewater and other industries in obtaining facilities, environmental, land use planning, import/ export and tariffrelated approvals from regulatory authorities. MacKay-Dunn, QC, R. Hector Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP (604) 661-9307 hmackay-dunn@ farris.com Mr. MacKay-Dunn practises corporate law in a broad range of industries. He focuses on partnering, cross-border and domestic tender offers, securities, M&A and licensing. His clients include companies, investors, investment banks and boards. MacWilliam, Alexander G. Dentons Canada LLP (403) 268-7090 alex.macwilliam@ dentons.com Madras, Mark L. Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (416) 862-4296 mark.madras@ gowlings.com Mr. MacWilliam advises the firm's clients on environmental issues, including the management of liability, environmental management systems and dispute resolution. He appears regularly before courts and tribunals. Mr. Madras leads the Nuclear Law Practice Group at Gowlings. He is a certified specialist in environmental law. His practice includes regulatory compliance, commercial transactions, project approvals and dispute resolution.

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