Federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's claim that Canada can achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing oil and gas production at the same time is "incoherent."

Smith has long argued that carbon neutrality is about transitioning away from emissions, not away from oil and gas production, an energy source she insists will remain globally dominant for decades to come.

Wilkinson said in an interview with CBC Radio to air on Saturday: "I think Premier Smith's argument is logically incoherent." "No one who truly believes in combating climate change can come to that conclusion.

"Between 10 to 15 percent of emissions are linked to oil and gas production. More than 85 percent are linked to burning fossil fuels used in vehicles, natural gas furnaces, and everything else, so we will have a situation in 2050 where the volume of oil and gas consumed is the same as today."

When asked if he was saying Smith does not believe in combating climate change, Wilkinson said he did not want to be "that strong."

Wilkinson said: "I want to say that I don't understand her argument because it is illogical. You have to reduce fossil fuel combustion to limit emissions."

The Energy Minister's comments come following the Liberal government's announcement this week of a regulatory framework to limit emissions from the oil and gas sector — a part of the government's efforts to meet Canada's 2030 climate targets and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Smith's office pointed to comments the Premier made earlier this week at the 28th Conference of the Parties in Dubai when asked to comment on Wilkinson's remarks to the House.

Smith expressed anger over the government's decision to move forward with imposing a cap on oil and gas emissions. She insisted it represents a de facto production cap and an attack on Alberta's economy.

Smith said in Dubai, "We will not allow the shutdown of our production, which we own under federal decrees. This is not their jurisdiction, we have the right to develop our resources," "We are developing them responsibly, and we are meeting our carbon neutrality goals by 2050."

In a July interview with The House, Smith said she was concerned about Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault's claim that oil and gas production is likely to decline by 75 percent by 2050.

She added, "This belief does not align with any reliable projections of global energy consumption in the future."

"Instead of seeking ways to sow uncertainty among investors and reduce support for Canadian energy globally, the federal government should focus on partnering with Alberta and investing in our national energy sector to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing energy production, jobs, and economic growth for Canadians at the same time."

The 2023 Canadian Energy Regulator report examines what oil and gas production would look like under two net-zero scenarios.

In the global net-zero scenario — where Canada achieves carbon neutrality by 2050 and the rest of the world cuts emissions enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — the report expects Canadian crude oil production to drop to 1.2 million barrels per day (76 percent less than in 2022) and natural gas production to fall to 5.5 billion cubic feet per day (68 percent less than in 2022) by 2050.

In the Canadian net-zero scenario — where Canada achieves carbon neutrality by 2050 but the rest of the world moves more slowly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — the report expects Canadian crude oil production to drop to 3.9 million barrels per day (22 percent less than Canada's crude oil production in 2022), and natural gas production to drop to 11 billion cubic feet per day (37 percent less than in 2022) by 2050.

For comparison, average Canadian crude oil production was 5 million barrels per day, and average natural gas production was 17.3 billion cubic feet per day in 2022.

The Canadian Energy Regulator predicted that if Canada takes limited action to reduce emissions beyond measures already in place and fails to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 — and global actions are also limited — Canadian oil and gas production will increase.

Canada is the first major oil and gas producing country to announce plans to impose an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector.

It is a step that the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says is not required to meet Canada's emissions reduction goals.

CEO Tristan Goodman said in an interview with The House airing Saturday: "The government really dropped the ball on this, and that's unfortunate." "They need to rethink and regroup on how to move forward on this and actually look at their entire climate policy package and how it all fits together."