Leduc #1

You would expect that for the millions we spent on having an Alberta Embassy in Washington, they could hire someone to fact check the speeches.

Leduc #1 was discovered in 1947. This bit of historical revisionism would credit the discovery to the PC government rather than the Socreds.

"This set of circumstances has created a unique mutually beneficial relationship that has delivered safe, secure, reliable supplies of oil and gas to the U.S. since Leduc Number One drilled in 1974 by Imperial Oil – the Canadian sub of Exxon."

Murray Smith

Rocky Mountain Natural Gas Strategy Conference and Investment Forum

Topic: "Energy Supply: Quantities and Qualities"

Denver, Colorado - August 1, 2005

This is not the only controversy to entangle Mr. Smith.

I hope he bones up on his oil industry history now that he has moved on to join the Washington circle at the TD Bank.

Investment bank TD Securities Inc. has created a new advisory board that will include Alberta political heavyweights Jim Dinning, Anne McLellan and Murray Smith, as it seeks an extra edge in the ultracompetitive energy sector.

The formation of the board, which will support TD Securities' energy practice, is intended to provide opinions on public policy, give insight on market conditions and open more industry doors, said Frank McKenna, deputy chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank and leader of the new advisory board.

David MacInnis, president of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, said government and politics have always been important in energy, but there has been a reluctance in the past to admit that fully.

Say it ain't so.

And MacInnis lets the cat out of the bag, big oil admits the need for a planned energy economy.

"The reality is that it's not just regulatory issues that are confounding energy development in this country," he said. "There is a significant lack of co-ordinated, coherent thinking on the policy side. So if a group like this can contribute to the quality of the dialogue, that is a good thing."

Planning is usually associated with socialism but in this case it is more like cartelization if not outright corporatism.

And the TD has created an investment bank of political bagmen and woman for big oil.


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Frank McKenna, Alberta, tarsands, oilsands, Canada, Washington, royalties, oil, profits,
Anne McLellan, Liberals, Nexxen, Agrium, Oil, Jim Dinning, Deputy PM, Bennett Jones,
Murray Smith, TD Bank, gasoline, gas gouging, gas prices, big oil, petrochemical, refinery,