CALGARY — The head of Canada’s biggest oil and gas advocacy group says companies are looking through the recent market upheaval and focusing on the long-term demand outlook.

Lisa Baiton, president and chief executive of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, says the U.S. will always be a major customer for Canadian oil and gas.

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She adds artificial intelligence data centre growth is likely to drive global hunger for energy well into the future.

West Texas Intermediate crude prices have lost about US$10 over the last week to hover around US$60 a barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed a new wave of tariffs and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced a May production increase.

A research report from Enverus says expansions to existing oilsands projects that use steam wells instead of mining for extraction are viable with low oil prices, but brand new ones would need stable prices of US$80 or higher to be greenlit.

A note from S&P Global Commodity Insights says if WTI were to plunge to US$50 a barrel, there could be a decline of one million barrels a day of U.S. onshore production over the course of a year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2025.

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press