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By Haslinda Amin and Soo-hyang Choi
Canada’s top trade official plugged his nation as a stable and reliable energy supplier amid the latest jump in oil prices as President Donald Trump said military operations against Iran could escalate, potentially prolonging disruptions to oil flows through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
“Here in Seoul the conversation has been around energy and what more Canada can do,” Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday in the South Korean capital. “If you look at crude oil, LNG but also nuclear capacity, we have all that. And we’re getting a lot of calls these days.”
Sidhu is on a four-day visit to South Korea, heading a delegation of 180 business leaders as he continues efforts to expand investment and trade with partners in Asia. The visit also comes as South Korea waits to hear if it has won a closely fought order to build submarines for the North American nation.
South Korea, a major importer of crude, has been scrambling to avert an energy crisis as it sees increasing risks of inflation heating up and growth taking a hit due to its high dependence on Middle Eastern energy imports.
Sidhu’s remarks came shortly after Trump said the US operation in the Middle East was close to completion, without giving a precise timeline for an exit. He also said more aggressive actions could take place in the next two to three weeks, including potential strikes on electrical plants.
Sidhu made the point that energy from the west coast of Canada can get to Asia in half the time it takes to ship from the Gulf of Mexico. Still, he said much of the interest in Canadian energy was coming from countries wanting to secure supplies of oil, liquefied natural gas and nuclear power over the next 10 to 30 years.
The demand for more stable supplies from more diverse sources is likely to increase in South Korea as the nation looks to position itself in energy intensive growth industries.
“There’s focus here in Korea on AI. They need energy to power that growth and we’re going to be there to supply it,” Sidhu said.
South Korea has been trying to show it has plenty of industrial heft to offer the North American nation as it seeks to close the multibillion-dollar submarine deal that the Canadian government views as a chance to steer new money into sectors hit by US tariffs, including autos and steel.
A Hanwha-led bid with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. is one of the two finalists for the contract to build as many as 12 submarines, along with a German-Norwegian proposal from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, or TKMS.
— With assistance from Laura Dhillon Kane and Naman Tandon
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