Canada expects revenue boost from gas

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CALGARY, Alberta, March 12 (UPI) -- Diversification of the energy sector is a top priority for the Canadian government, said the Natural Resources Ministry in touting gas potential.

Canadian Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose told an energy research institute on behalf of the Canadian Natural Resources Ministry the country needs to find new markets for its energy.

Diversification, she said, is a top priority for the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"We continue to put in place the conditions that will help to ensure that Canada's natural gas and other resource industries can compete in this new marketplace," Ambrose said.

Alberta's government this week said revenues through 2014 are estimated at around $38.6 billion, which is $5 billion less than last year's forecast. The decline was blamed in part in the discount for the Western Canada Select crude blend when compared with U.S. blend West Texas Intermediate.

Ambrose said the Harper government saw benefits coming out of the country's natural gas sector.

"Over the next 25 years, the natural gas sector alone has the potential to contribute as much as $940 billion to the Canadian economy and support more than a quarter of a million jobs a year," she said.