It was announced today that current ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson will be the next Secretary of State for the United States. A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Tillerson came to Exxon as a production engineer from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and has been with the world's fifth largest company by market capitalization ever since. As the Associated Press reported, Tillerson, groomed for an executive position, came up in the rough-and-tumble world of oil production, [Read more]
The Obama administration just dealt another bad hand to Canada’s oil industry
With only a few months left in his term, President Obama dealt one last blow to Canada's struggling oil industry. Yesterday, President Obama denied Energy Transfer Partners the last permit it would need to complete the Dakota Access pipeline. The move was made only months after approving the line. Despite all the evidence that pipelines are the safest way to transport oil, and that Energy Transfer Partners spent years working diligently with federal, state, and local officials to route the [Read more]
Pipeline approval does not equal pipeline construction: Why Trudeau’s announcement is meaningless
The few pro-oil and gas supporters of Premier Notley and Prime Minister Trudeau claimed victory yesterday as the PM announced the federal government approval of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline. Of course most of these people were silent when Prime Minister Harper approved several pipelines. Silence was, and is, actually the appropriate reaction--and Trudeau and Notley supporters should learn to be consistent with their tone. If they were, they would express disappointment at the denial [Read more]
Oil and gas executives concern over Alberta’s carbon tax raises alarming questions
It is widely anticipated that President Elect Donald Trump's pro energy platform and proposed corporate tax cut will kick start an American oil and gas industry already outpacing its Canadian counterpart. CEO's of two prominent intermediate oil and gas companies were interviewed recently and offered insight about the challenges facing Canada's oil and gas industry amidst a newly elected oil and gas development-friendly President of the United States. Birchcliff Energy CEO, Jeffery Tonken and [Read more]
Notley’s downplay of Keystone’s importance demonstrates severe lack of oil market knowledge
Talking points are easy and many politicians are quite good at rambling them off. Premier Notley has been especially on queue with her misinformed talking point that Keystone XL is not important to Alberta's oil industry. Premier Notley has taken an incredibly troubling stance on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Her assertions clearly demonstrate that she is under-informed and blinded by ideology on this critical pipeline issue. Here are a few of the points she mentioned: When she first [Read more]
Trump’s win is a huge win for Alberta
Finally! After a horrible oil price collapse, after a mass exodus of multinationals leaving Alberta, after an election of anti-oil and gas activists in Alberta's legislature, after the election of a Prime Minister who called for a moratorium on oil tanker traffic, Alberta finally got a much needed win with Donald Trump being elected as President of the United States. As asserted in an earlier BOE Report column, Donald Trump's win means Canada will likely (hopefully) get a desperately needed [Read more]
Donald Trump might be Canada’s only hope for a pipeline
Like it or not, Donald Trump is likely Canada's only hope for a desperately needed major pipeline. In the past several years, weak or incompetent leadership has led to zero major pipelines built in Canada. Weak leadership considering no political leader in Canada had the spine to push through projects that were positive for the country. Instead they crumble to the wishes of radical activists because most politicians are uncomfortable offending that fringe group. Incompetency is evident when [Read more]
Perhaps the only genuinely pro-oil and gas NDP minister
Alberta's NDP has an extremely troubling history of being anti-oil and gas. Prior statements, activist appointments and several policies have altogether shone a dark light on the party for many Albertans. However, there is one NDP MLA who stands out as being reasonable and approachable. There are many examples where Marg McCuaig-Boyd has shown compassion and a willingness to understand the plight of the oil industry and its workers. @OilsandsAction Thanks for the cozy hoodie. [Read more]
The amount of LNG business Canada missed out on is nothing short of depressing
Western Canada's natural gas is currently selling for about $2.91/Mcf (thousand cubic feet). This is quite a high number considering the past two years have seen a range of sub-$1 to $3/Mcf. Unquestionably, Canada has a premier natural gas resource which allows producers to be fairly profitable at today's prices. But when compared internationally, Canada's natural gas fetches prices among the lowest in the world. After looking at LNG prices (both current and historically), Canada's lack of [Read more]
Majority of Canadians support pipeline projects, so why don’t these things get built?
According to many polls, the majority of Canadians support pipeline building in Canada - unfortunately, these things do not get built. First, CEPA, pipeline companies, Canada Action, Canada's Energy Citizens, Oil Respect, oil companies, and many people who work in the oil and gas industry deserve a tremendous amount of credit for winning public support. That is a huge accomplishment - especially considering the tremendous amount of money and misinformation that is hurled at them on a daily [Read more]