ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the main features of Canada's natural gas export policies. Creation of a Crown corporation with the mandate given to Petro-Canada is evidence that the federal government placed a higher value on obtaining information and knowledge about the extent of Canada's resource base and the timing and cost at which additional supplies of oil and natural gas would become available than did the private sector. There are a variety of policy tools that could have been used towards the achievement of the government's objectives for petroleum industry development and natural gas exports. An important set of issues arises from the federal government setting both export prices and maximum exportable volumes, as well as issuing non-transferable, export-point and customer-specific export licences. Domestic requirements could be protected by stockpiling or by changing the economics of export sales and, therefore, the relative attractiveness of the domestic market.
