Alberta oil can be a solution to U.S. energy supply crunch, says minister

Alberta, Canada's main oil-producing region, can help alleviate the global oil supply crunch caused by energy disruptions, Alberta's Energy Minister Sonya Savage said on Sunday.

Alberta has some spare pipeline and rail capacity and can move more oil to the United States, Savage said in Houston ahead of the CERAWeek energy conference by S&P Global.

Oil prices in Monday trading in Asia have soared to $128 per barrel, up from about $83 per barrel in January.

"We are the solution, not Venezuela and others," Savage told Reuters, an apparent reference to the U.S. sending a delegation to Caracas last week to discuss an easing of U.S. oil sanctions.

She also said it was "unconscionable" for any nation to be buying Russian crude oil or refined products in light of its invasion of Ukraine.

In a tweet on Sunday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said that he would be joining Savage at the conference in Houston. 

"We will be meeting with decision-makers to secure access to markets, attract job-creating investment to our province and argue for Canadian energy to displace Russian conflict oil," the tweet says.

Kenney called out President Biden's vetoing of the Keystone XL pipeline, saying that with his approval of the project Canada could provide "nearly 1 million barrels of day of responsibly produced energy," to the U.S. 

Oil buyers have been shunning oil cargoes from Russia, one of the world's largest petroleum exporters. Russia exports 4 to 5 million barrels per day of oil and 2 to 3 million barrels per day of refined products.

Savage said the U.S. should ban imports of Russian crude oil and refined products.

Canada last week banned Russian crude oil imports and agreed to supply anti-tank weapons to Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation."