An advocacy group representing dozens of Canadian oil and gas companies is hoping to influence the Manitoba government while it reviews its petroleum production incentives, taxes and royalties.

This while the provincial government proposes a liquified natural gas (LNG) pipeline and terminal as part of its Port of Churchill Plus expansion project and finds itself central to Alberta and Ontario’s recently proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor — a 3,300-kilometre pipeline that would span across southern Manitoba.

On Oct. 13, the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC) registered to lobby about changes to the province’s petroleum fiscal regime, which lays out provincial oil royalties and production taxes, as well as drilling incentives that offer a royalty and production tax-free period for newly drilled or enhanced oil wells.

The Manitoba government announced late last year it is working to “implement a new tax regime,” for oil and gas.

EPAC said in its lobbying registration that it wants to advocate for “policy, fiscal and royalty provisions that ensure Manitoba remains a competitive and attractive destination for investment,” according to filings in the IJF’s Lobbying Registrations database.

Its lobbyists are directly targeting Premier Wab Kinew along with Finance Minister Adrien Sala, Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie and Business, Mining and Trade Minister Jamie Moses.

EPAC’s website says 40 per cent of oil and 65 per cent of natural gas produced in Canada is done so by its members, which include approximately 80 junior and mid-sized oil and gas producers headquartered in Canada along with other support businesses.

The IJF reached out to EPAC for comment regarding its potential interest in the Port of Churchill Plus project and the Northern Shield Energy Corridor, but did not hear back.

The IJF also asked the province where it stands on the Northern Shield Energy Corridor and how it might impact the Port of Churchill Plus expansion, but did not receive a response before this story was published.

A panel of Indigenous climate activists toured the province in late October to share their concerns and hear directly from Manitoba communities regarding Port of Churchill Plus after Kinew said there wasn’t Indigenous opposition to the project.

While stopped in Churchill for the tour, panelist Kakeká ThunderSky said she believes Kinew and Prime Minister Mark Carney will fast-track the project while “bypassing crucial environmental assessments and consultation engagements.”

“We know that fast-tracked LNG and pipeline projects in Manitoba are not in our best interests. This project would only profit big fossil fuel companies and not us,” said ThunderSky, a coordinator for Climate Action Team Manitoba with familial roots in Poplar River First Nation, Man.

Political climate suggests fair weather for oil interests

EPAC has previously helped shape oil production policy in Manitoba.

In 2013, the provincial government specifically acknowledged EPAC’s participation in the working group that reviewed revisions to the drilling incentive program, stating the revisions “recognized key investment strategies proposed by the group and has kept Manitoba competitive for new oil and gas investment.”

EPAC has also registered to lobby the Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and federal governments within the last year.

It has communicated with the federal government 26 times since the start of 2026, according to communication reports in the federal lobbyists registry.

In that registry, EPAC stated it wants a faster, more efficient and predictable “approval process for new energy projects including LNG and pipelines to increase the value to Canada from energy exports and diversify markets.”

EPAC’s registration also says Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, which governs how major projects are evaluated for concerns regarding the environment and Indigenous rights, is “detrimental to Canada's energy project developers and detrimental to our membership.”

Carney has pushed to expand LNG exports, with a goal of “producing 50 million tonnes of LNG per year by 2030 and up to 100 million tonnes by 2040.”

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