Prime Minister François Legault took advantage of his visit to the United Nations climate conference (COP26) on Thursday to announce that Quebec is joining a coalition of states that are closing the door to oil and gas development projects. Even if no exploration project has resulted in the exploitation of such resources, his government intends to compensate the companies still present in the province.
Quebec has decided to join its voice to Denmark and Costa Rica, the two states which are at the origin of the “Beyond Oil and Gas Coalition” (BOGA), which will be officially launched on November 10 at COP26 in Glasgow. . According to Mr. Legault, this decision means that “Quebec is setting an example and assuming its leadership role in the production of green energy. It also encourages other states to find alternatives to oil and gas ”.
“Quebec intends to fight against climate change by exploiting, in particular, its abundant hydroelectric resources. But to achieve its target of reducing its GHG emissions by 37.5% compared to 1990 and achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, it must also free itself from fossil fuels, ”the Prime Minister also argued.
BOGA in fact pleads for a “just transition” from fossil fuels to renewable energies. At present, this transition is still far away, since fossil fuels still meet more than 80% of humanity’s energy needs.
What is more, the major producing countries (including Canada) plan to use around 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than what would be consistent with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 ° C. This same production would be 45% higher than what would not exceed a warming of 2 ° C, according to the most recent edition of the Production Gap Report, published in October.
Several environmental groups welcomed the Legault government’s decision on Thursday, including Greenpeace and the David Suzuki Foundation. Climate policy analyst at Équiterre, Émile Boisseau-Bouvier also underlined that Quebec’s decision makes it possible to “create momentum” and to encourage other states to join the BOGA.
See also: Three challenges of COP26
Compensate companies
However, the decision to put an end to oil and gas exploration and exploitation projects in Quebec does not change anything with regard to the consumption of these fossil resources in Quebec, which are entirely imported. Quebecers consume shale gas in particular, but also more than 350,000 barrels of oil each year, including shale oil and oil from the tar sands. According to the report “The State of Energy”, the consumption of petroleum products has even increased since 2013.
Definitely turning your back on oil and gas projects also risks costing Quebec taxpayers several million dollars, even if no exploitation project has seen the light of day in recent years and exploration. is at a standstill.
Interviewed at To have to last week, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonatan Julien, made a commitment to financially compensate companies that still hold exploration permits in Quebec. According to data from his ministry, there are about ten companies, mainly owned by foreign interests, which control 182 exploration permits, for a total area of over 32,000 km2.
“We have people who are engaged in a process in good faith, who have bought licenses, paid fees,” said Julien, referring to companies. “We are not a republic of bananas. What message would we send if we told those who had invested in an adventure: it’s over, ”he added.
The minister did not mention a financial assessment of the costs for the Quebec government, which has already spent more than $ 120 million on oil projects that have never led to exploitation. “We are going to be fair and reasonable. It is not true, in the end, that we will be spending too much, ”he simply said.
Certainly, companies are already on the verge of claiming millions of dollars, even billions. This is the case of Utica Resources, a company controlled by Austrian shareholders. It has acquired several permits abandoned by other companies, so much so that it now controls 29 permits, totaling approximately 4,400 km2 in the lowlands of the St.Lawrence and in the Gaspé.
According to what recently stated its president, Mario Lévesque, in a written response to Le Devoir, the value of the assets would amount to “several billion dollars”. An opinion shared by the president of the Association de l’énergie du Québec, Éric Tétrault, who believes that on its own, shale gas from the St. Lawrence Valley could represent “lost profits” of “3 to $ 5 billion ”.
A subsidiary of Utica Resources, Gaspé Énergies, has already launched legal action against the Legault government, which refused it an oil drilling permit in the Gaspé, for a project called “Galt”. Another legal action was launched by a US company claiming 150 million Canadian dollars for the cancellation, in 2011, of a single permit, which was located in the bed of the St.Lawrence River, downstream of Trois- Rivers.