​​Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says Canada's energy industry can increase oil and gas exports in 2022 to help ease the "energy security crisis" in Europe triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We have determined the Canadian industry has the pipeline and production capacity to incrementally increase oil and gas exports in 2022 by up to 300,000 barrels per day," Wilkinson said at a press conference at the International Energy Agency's (IEA) meeting of energy ministers in Paris on Thursday. "We will be working with partners to bring fresh supply to the market to help address supply shortages."

Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer, and holds the third-largest oil reserves. Wilkinson says a number of Canadian oil and gas producers had planned to increase production later this year, and are now looking to accelerate those efforts.

Canada currently exports around four million bbl/d of oil to the United States, a small portion of which is sent overseas. Wilkinson says the 300,000 barrels per day increase, comprising 200,000 bbl/d of oil and up to 100,000 BOE/d of natural gas, is expected to be achieved by the end of 2022.

"We've done a fair bit of due diligence with the pipeline sector, and with the energy producers to ensure that we actually are confident in the numbers that we put forward," Wilkinson added.

He says Canada is coordinating its efforts with the U.S. Department of Energy to ensure the increased volumes flowing southward on existing pipelines will be efficiently shipped as crude or refined before export.

"United States and Canada are essentially increasing production to increase the availability of oil. That oil will go into the international markets, and will be available to Europe. Some may be utilized in the United States to offset some of the Russian oil that they have now banned from coming into the country," Wilkinson said.

He adds that the additional natural gas production will primarily be shipped through the U.S. to destinations in Europe looking to add supply.

The largest producers in Canada's energy patch have been cautious with respect to growing production, even in the face of rising benchmark prices, due to years of pressure from investors to avoid expansionary spending in favour of returns to shareholders. Limited pipeline capacity and a shortage of skilled workers in the industry present additional barriers to increasing oil and gas exports.

"Canada on its own is not going to solve the issue," Wilkinson said. "Canada is coming forward in conjunction with Brazil, and in conjunction with the United States, and I'm sure there will be others, to remove some of the tightness in the market."

According to the IEA, Russia was the largest natural gas-exporting country in the world in 2021, and the second-largest crude oil and condensates-exporting country.

In a largely symbolic move, Canada announced a ban on oil imports from Russia on Feb. 28 in response to the country's attack on Ukraine. Canada has not imported Russian crude since 2019. U.S. President Joe Biden banned imports of Russian oil, gas and coal on March 8. In December, Russian oil accounted for less than five per cent of total American oil imports, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

On Thursday, Reuters reported that OPEC officials warned the European Union of their unease about a potential ban on oil from Russia. The EU, which relies heavily on Russian crude, has already imposed tough sanctions on Russia, including freezing its central bank's assets.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

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