Alberta's premier said he is confident the province will continue to export oil and gas to the United States despite more stringent environmental laws there, after a meeting on Friday with U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Ed Stelmach was in Washington to talk about his province's oilsands energy developments around Fort McMurray, Alta.

Environmental protesters greeted Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach during his trip to Washington.

The premier has been forced to defend the province's environmental policies against claims that oilsands production takes too much of a toll on the environment.

Legislation passed by the United States last month forbids any U.S. federal agencies from buying vehicle fuel that comes from non-conventional sources, unless the life cycle of its greenhouse gas emissions is the same or less than conventional oil.

But Stelmach told the CBC he is confident the U.S. will continue to be major customer for Alberta's oil and gas.

"The administration is very clear on what has to be done in terms of finding very safe and secure supplies of oil. They know that notwithstanding ideas they may have in place to reduce dependency on fossil fuel, they know that for the next number of years, demand will increase," the premier said.

Stelmach said Cheney has promised to visit Alberta to see for himself how the province is handling the oilsands issue.

The premier's brief meeting with the vice-president came at the end of a three-day trip to Washington that saw Stelmach face demonstrators calling for a moratorium on oilsands development.