OTTAWA, March 13 (UPI) -- Canada is positioned to take advantage of growing energy demand and become a "21st century energy superpower," Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said.
The Canadian government estimates production from its vast oil deposits should reach 5 million barrels per day by 2035. Oliver told delegates at an energy conference in Ottawa, Ontario, those reserves could help meet the world's growing appetite for oil.
"We have solid economic fundamentals and unprecedented energy wealth," he said. "Canada is emerging as a 21st century energy superpower -- unmatched in reliability, responsibility, and potential."
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly market report for March it revised its world oil demand growth for 2013 up by 70,000 barrels per day to 1.05 million barrels per day.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has sought to court Asian and European consumers in an effort to diversify an energy export market that relies almost exclusively on the United States.
Oliver said Wednesday the country lost about $35 million per day because its crude oil reserves are landlocked.
Harper said Tuesday his government signed a free-trade agreement with South Korea, Canada's first with an Asian market. He said in a statement with South Korean President Park Geun-hye there are "great opportunities" to expand trade in "energy and natural resources" with the deal.
