NEW YORK (Sputnik) — Canada is not looking to freeze oil production along the lines proposed by Russia and other large producers, Canadian Energy Minister James Gordon Carr told reporters on Monday.
"It would not be our position to freeze production," Carr said on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit.
The minister added that Canada will continue to look for ways to extract oil "more sustainably" during what he described as a "transition period" away from fossil fuels. Until that transition, Carr asserted that "there will be the exploration of fossil fuels, particularly in western Canada."
On April 17, major oil producers are expected to meet in the Qatari capital of Doha to discuss an agreement to freeze oil output at January 2016 levels. In February, representatives from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, and Russia discussed possible measures to stabilize the current oil market, including the oil production freeze.
James Gordon Carr also told reporters that Canada will continue to send its energy experts to Ukraine to help that government improve their energy security.
"We have sent teams of experts to Ukraine in the past to talk about energy security, and we will continue to do that," Carr said.
Since the 2014 outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, the country has shifted its import of energy toward Europe and away from Russia.
Canada, a large producer of natural gas, has begun work on a major LNG export facility and is expecting a regulatory decision approving a second Pacific Northwest LNG project in the coming four months, Carr said.
