[Canada] is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest natural-gas producer. The oil-and-gas sector represents about a fifth of the country’s exports, making it the largest contributor, according to Statistics Canada. But it sends nearly all of its natural-gas exports and about 90% of crude-oil exports to the U.S., limiting its global influence.
Trump’s trade war and the Iran conflict have ignited Canada’s ambition to diversify its energy exports. America’s push to import more Venezuelan oil, a heavy grade that competes with the Canadian kind, is another reason for Canada to look beyond its neighbour.
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