The National Post reports in its Tuesday, July 21, edition that during trade talks last fall, Prime Minister Mark Carney proposed sending three to four million additional barrels of oil to the United State as part of a "preliminary" deal, according to U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra. The Post's Jordan Gowling writes that Mr. Hoekstra said: "Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright had to be restrained by the President because they were so eager for getting more oil and getting it from Canada. The President had to advise them that crawling across the table and shaking Carney's hand was not necessarily the best negotiating strategy." He said Mr. Carney's offer was part of a "preliminary trade agreement." Mr. Hoekstra said: "We need oil, and we have found over the last couple of decades that one of the best places in the world to get oil from is Canada. We'd like to get another three or four million barrels of oil over the next decade from somewhere, and probably the region that can make the most compelling case for supplying more oil to the United States would be Saskatchewan and Alberta." Canada exports 4.5 million barrels of oil a day and accounts for 65 per cent of all U.S. oil imports.