Husky breaks industry leash

Husky Energy has marched to its own drummer for many years, ever since control of the company was taken over by Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, Li Ka-shing.

Once a big community participant in its head office city of Calgary it has decisively thumbed its nose at that culture by not renewing its membership in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, whose 130 member companies account for 95 percent of Canada’s oil and natural gas production.

Although Husky offered no explanation for its pullout, a company spokesman said the move is a “deferral, not a cancellation. We’re looking at doing our own advocacy (with governments, stakeholders and special interest groups) and bringing it in-house.”

He dismissed any suggestion that the decision stemmed from divisions within the industry’s main lobby group.

CAPP could shed no light based on the letter it received from Husky, which was not signed by Chief Executive Officer John Lau, who has indicated he is personally close to retiring from the company.

That left the field wide open to speculation, given that whatever rifts occur within CAPP they generally remain behind closed doors.

In fact, the Husky incident has no close parallel since CAPP refused to admit Petro-Canada while it was a state-owned company.

But the timing is a setback for CAPP when it needs wholehearted backing as it tackles some of the toughest issues in memory, led by its efforts to paint the industry in a favorable light as public support builds around environmental and political pressures to impose severe climate-change measures.

Toss into the mix CAPP’s handling, or mishandling in some eyes, of the Alberta government’s royalty increase (which prompted the resignation of Paramount Energy Trust), its attempts to redirect Alberta oil sands policy and grumbling within the industry over CAPP’s formula for membership dues based on company production.

In the case of Husky, that is believed to represent a loss for CAPP of C$750,000 to C$1 million.

—Gary Park