Mideast war, pipeline push serve as backdrop to oil and gas investment conference

The Cenovus Christina Lake oilsands facility steam-assisted gravity drainage pad southeast of Fort McMurray, Alta., is shown on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken

TORONTO — Leaders of some of Canada’s biggest oil and gas producers are discussing the state of their industry with investors at a private conference as the war in the Middle East continues to roil commodity markets.

Presentations at the 2026 BMO CAPP Energy Symposium, which kicks off today, are closed to the public and media, but some speakers will be participating in press interviews.

The conference is taking place as the war embroiling much of the Middle East halts oil tanker shipments out of the Persian Gulf, driving global prices higher.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude surged above US$100 per barrel on Monday after the U.S. military said it would blockade all Iranian ports in an effort to force Tehran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The conference is also being held amid a push in Canada to more speedily build oil and gas export infrastructure to serve markets beyond what has traditionally been this country’s biggest customer — the United States.

The Alberta government, aided by industry experts, is working toward filing an application for a new West Coast crude oil pipeline this summer to the federal major projects office, which aims to speed along infrastructure deemed in the national interest.

Meanwhile, the partners in the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat, B.C., are contemplating an expansion that would double capacity and several other natural gas export projects are either under construction or in development.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2026.

With files from The Associated Press