\u201cWhat happened over the last several years was I think there was a lot of ambition that we could really move the (energy) transition along very fast\u2026And I think we\u2019re finding out that this is a many, many decade transition and it\u2019s probably going to look more like diversification than it is like transition.<\/em>\u201d – Alex Pourbaix, CEO, Cenovus Energy, <\/span>JWN Energy<\/span><\/a>, June 7, 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n The Canadian oil patch is making a $700 billion bet (the sector’s total market capitalization) that the Cenovus CEO is right. Unfortunately for investors, workers, and the Alberta government’s coffers, the evidence suggests that Alex Pourbaix is wrong.<\/p>\n It’s hard to know if Pourbaix is deliberately wrong or just clueless.<\/p>\n The case for deliberately wrong is pretty strong. Energy narrative management has always been a big part of the industry’s public relations game. From lobbying groups like the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers to the CEOs to social media’s plethora of “petro-bros,” oil and gas public relations always plays offence, including sharp elbows in the corners and no hesitation to “chuck knuckles,” as the hockey saying goes, when necessary.<\/p>\n But don’t rule out clueless. Calgary corporate boardrooms are ruled by a groupthink that believes some amazing nonsense. The ethical oil<\/a> argument, for starters (watch my interview with Max Fawcett about how ethical oil is dead). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s supposed crusade to “kill” the Alberta economy is another. There aren’t many deep thinkers in the Calgary Petroleum Club, which prefers facile pablum from industry shills like Dave Yager.<\/p>\n