Energy from Canada's Frontier: A Fading Dream?

By the end of the present century, oil and gas from Canada's frontier should comprise a substantial proportion of our total energy supply. The economic activity generated by the huge capital investments required to utilize these resources should have done much to improve Canada's economy. However, whether these desirable goals will, in fact, be achieved is still very much an open question. Ordinarily, the fundamental uncertainty in dealing with oil and gas concerns whether or not these elusive substances actually exist in the area being searched. In the case of frontier oil and gas, however, the real question is not so much whether the hydrocarbons themselves exist, but whether there is a national will to harness these resources.