Nelson: Oil is welcome from Azerbaijan, but not Alberta. What gives?

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What do the United States, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Norway, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Angola, Russia, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Oman, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Trinidad and Tobago all have in common? (And no, it isn’t that they all beat Canada’s curlers at the Olympics.)

The correct answer is that this diverse collection of nations all managed to export crude oil to our shores in 2017.

On average, each and every day over the previous year, we imported 670,000 barrels of oil into our country. About half came from the U.S., with the next biggest share arising from that bastion of all that’s good and fair in the world of civil liberties and female emancipation, Saudi Arabia.

Oh, but in third spot, we saw the rise of a relative newcomer in selling oil to the Canucks, that being Azerbaijan.

And what, pray tell, is the story behind this rapid rise up the ultra-competitive Canadian oil import league? What’s going on in those far-off fields in a place so unknown to most of us, it’s possible our prime minister himself still hasn’t a collection of its national ceremonial clothing?

Well, this is what a human rights organization wrote recently about the latest happy happenings in the Azerbaijan energy industry.

Under the rather cumbersome phrase of “the effects of oil and gas production on the environment and human health: comparative evaluation,” we are told of “human rights abuses and environmental pollution by companies in the oil sector in Azerbaijan. Reported human rights abuses include workplace discrimination, illegal termination of contracts, health and safety violations and sexual harassment.”

Seems perfectly logical we’d take oil from this bunch rather than, perish the thought, accepting crude from those dreadful knuckle-draggers out there in Alberta.

But the head scratching doesn’t just end with the location of these oil exporters. There’s also the method of delivery involved for these 670,000-a-day barrels. Now remember, it was Quebec that fought so hard against the planned Energy East pipeline that was due to take crude from Alberta through that province and onto New Brunswick refineries.

So obviously they wouldn’t want any oil being delivered by pipeline. Think again, folks. This is Canada, after all.

Yes, according to the recent figures released by the National Energy Board, both Ontario and Quebec refineries do indeed import a lot of crude oil by pipeline from the U.S.

Meanwhile, over on our West Coast, the rage and protests against increased tanker traffic that would arise if and when the Kinder Morgan pipeline extension is built, continue unabated. Maybe they should take their placards and stand on the Atlantic seashore and shout abuse at those mega-tankers sailing into the marine terminals of our eastern provinces. Heck, they might spot one carrying Azerbaijan crude.

Now, if energy was a small byproduct of the Canadian economy, then, fair enough, in the push-and-pull world of international trade, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But no, energy is the No. 1 driver of the Canadian economy and the national wealth it creates is unmatched.

But don’t worry; the Trudeau government isn’t content with this situation. Nope, new rules will ensure Alberta companies wanting to build future pipelines will have to calculate upstream and downstream environment emissions before Ottawa will approve any construction.

In short, companies will be on the hook for all emissions during extraction as well as when that crude eventually is used in vehicles after being refined. Do Bombardier jets or Oshawa, Ont., vehicles have such stringent environmental hoops to jump through before getting approval for expansion or federal financial support?

Give your head a shake if you spent more than a split second pondering that silly question.

And, of course, imported oil won’t be affected at all by these “only-in-Canada” emission rules. No, countries can keep shipping us crude by pipeline and tanker to their heart’s content.

Oh well, at least we’re making Azerbaijan happy.

Chris Nelson is a Calgary writer.