Daily Herald-Tribune
Grande Prairie-Smoky MLA Mel Knight is in the United States this week trying to ease American worries that Alberta is allowing China to invest too much in the province's oil developments.
Knight is Alberta's representative on the Energy Council, a group representing 10 energy-producing states, four provinces and Venezuela. The council's annual meeting is this week in Little Rock, Arkansas, covering issues such as improving oilfield efficiency and China's growing energy interests in the world.
Canada is the United States biggest oil and natural gas supplier with the potential to export even more as oilsands developments grow.
But while the United States is a big customer, the developments need investment capital and recently China has become more interested in being that investor.
Knight says that is raising some concerns with some Americans he talks with, but says Alberta won't be blocking foreign investment anytime soon.
"There's a very concerned group in the U.S., concerned about China's needs," says Knight.
To help alleviate some concerns, Knight is traveling to the conference with the director of China Institute at the University of Alberta, Dr. Wenran Jiang, who will answer some questions about China's growing economy and its energy needs.
Knight says many of the major companies investing in the oilsands today are multi-national companies with shareholders around the world.
"We don't ask to see who all the shareholders are. We have some major companies here that do a lot of work. We watch the (foreign) involvement, but we don't discriminate."
While not officially on the council's agenda, Knight says he also wants to talk to some American state representatives about how they have fought the mountain pine beetle.
The pine beetle has been showing up more often in the region as it moves across the Rocky Mountains, but has not yet become an epidemic in the forests. The province is fighting the spread, but Knight says he wants to research how homeowners can protect their own trees.
"A number of those states have had issues with pine beetles. We (province) think we have a responsible way to approach it ... but for ornamental trees around Grande Prairie, we don't."
Also going with Knight to the conference are representatives of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta who will talk about the skilled labour shortage in the province.