Canadian Oil Mafia (#COM)

Canadian Oil Mafia (#COM)

Background

The Canadian Oil Mafia (#COM) states its mission as “To have a positive impact educating others on the Generational Opportunity in the Canadian Energy Industry” and to promote “awareness of the Canadian Oil and Gas sector.”1The Canadian Oil Mafia #COM,” CanadianOilMafia. Archived July 8, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/clrbl

The group consists of number of investors in the Canadian oil sector who believe that “renewable energy sources can’t deliver on their promises as soon as many had hoped,” according to a post by Nathan Worden,2Why Are People so Excited About Canadian Oil?Commonstock, March 17, 2022. Archived November 14, 2022. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/J8Z4o community manager at Commonstock, a company that describes itself as “a social network that amplifies the knowledge of the best investors.”3Verified investing knowledge,” CommonStock. Archived November 10, 2022. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/Nv7m8

Shubham Garg and Sohaib Abbas are the duo spearheading the #CanadianOilMafia movement. They have been publishing their research and hosting frequent twitter spaces to sound the alarm on the incoming energy crisis. They aim to raise awareness about how egregiously low Canadian Oil equities are currently priced at in light of energy demand. One of their Twitter spaces which focused on addressing ‘energy ignorance’ lasted a herculean 14 hours and had ~18,000 listeners between the live & replay format,” he wrote.

Its assets appear to be a currently-defunct Shopify website selling merchandise with pro-oil slogans. Abbas has himself appeared wearing a hoodie4Folks we gotta make sure @AlexEpstein is outfitted with the appropriate attire as seen below 👇 hey @AlexEpstein DM me i want to send you some merchandise on behalf of the Canadian Oil Mafia @William39009143 @codyincalgary #CamadianOilMafia,” Tweet by user “@sohaibab9,” March 5, 2022. Archived December 13, 2022. with the “I Love Canadian Oil and Gas” slogan sold on items by Canada Action,5I LOVE CANADIAN OIL & GAS,” Canada Action. Archived December 13, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.vn/5HPAf and Abbas has claimed they shared merchandise “with the blessings of” Cody Battershill.6On behalf of the Canadian Oil Mafia we are gonna send this man some Canadian apparel merchandise with the blessings of @codyincalgary& @William39009143 as a token of appreciation !!” Tweet by user “@sohaibab9,” March 5, 2022. Archived December 13, 2022.

Canadian Oil Mafia holds events regularly on Twitter Spaces and supporters often post with the #COM hashtag on Twitter. Some posts describe it as a “tweeter network.”

Stance on Climate Change

December 31, 2021

Responding to a comment on Twitter, Shubham Garg said “People are dying from energy poverty, not due to a 1 degree change in temperature.”7Sensationalizing the issue and shoving climate change down my throat is not going to make any impact […]” Tweet by user @WhiteTundraSG, December 31, 2021. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

Funding

The Canadian Oil Mafia does not list its funding sources, apart from its web store.

Key People

In his summary of Canadian Oil Mafia, Nathan Worden listed the “ring-leaders of the movement” as Shubham Garg and Sohaib Abbas.

Woodward shared a post on LinkedIn indicating both his coordination with the group.11I first met Sohaib Abbas, I believe in 2012, at Forest Lawn High School where I was Coaching Basketball. […],” LinkedIn post by user Adam Woodward, July 2022.

“Sohaib is a game changer imo. His willingness to learn, to ask questions, and to stand up for what he believes in is a tremendous inspiration (for me). His ethic, working harder than most, shapes his future,” Woodward commented on LinkedIn.

“I look forward to our Canadian Oil Mafia #COM Fundraiser at Cowboys next week (July 14th). I am excited and proud to say that this young man I met many years ago as a Coach will be leading and mediating #inspiration the Peterson Capital Energy Panel that day and applaud Sohaib’s efforts.”

Actions

November 11, 2022

Sohaib Abbas hosted a Twitter space12This was an absolutely terrific Spaces with@TamarackLtd.[…]” Tweet by user @sohaibab9. Archived .mp3 on file at DeSmog. with Brian Schmidt, president and CEO of Tamarack Valley Energy, and formerly of Apache and Shell. Schmidt sits on the board of governors of the Canadian Association of Oil Producers (CAPP) and is an industry advisor to Indian Oil and Gas Canada and is on the co-management board of the Indian Resource.13Senior Management Team,Tamarack Valley Energy, Archived November 14, 2022. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

November 10, 2022

Sohaib Abbas gave a talk “on the importance of Resource extraction to young Canadians.”14Gonna be giving a short little talk on the importance of Resource extraction to young Canadians […],” Tweet by user @sohaibab9, November 10, 20222. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

Aug 7, 2022

Canadian Oil Mafia hosted an event on Twitter Spaces, and invited Arjun Murti to speak, according to a post on LinkedIn.15I’ve been asked a number of times[…],” LinkedIn post by user Arjun Murti, 16A ‘Deep Dive’ on the outlook from Veteran Energy Analyst @ArjunNMurti on the profitability, public policy & role of Canadian Energy on the world stage,” Tweet by user @sohaibab9.

July 2022

Canadian Oil Mafia collaborated with the Woodward Family Foundation, a foundation that has also funded projects of the Cato Institute,17About Downsizing the Federal Government,” Downsizing the Federal Government. Archived October 18, 2022. Archive URL:https://archive.ph/QQZlF for a Stampede Party fundraiser at the Cowboys Music Festival in Calgary, Alberta.18THE #CANADIAN OIL MAFIA AND THE BIG GIVE PROJECT | JULY 14,” ShowPass. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

A LinkedIn post by Calgary private equity advisor Adam Woodward also mentioned the event.

June 2022

Vivian Krause spoke at an event titled “Sabotaging of Canadian Oil and Gas,” hosted by Sohaib Abbas, the organizer of the Canadian Oil Mafia.19Event audio on file at DeSmog.

  • White Tundra Investments — Calgary-based investment company run by Shubham Garg.

Contact & Address

The Canadian Oil Mafia appears to operate primarily as a Twitter group and do not appear to have a physical address.

Social Media

Sohaib Abbas

Shubham Garg

Adam Woodward

Other Resources

Resources

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