In Part 1, Crude in 2017: Will the bulls give way to bears? We explored three major factors likely to impact the price of oil in 2017. The OPEC/Non-OPEC agreement could fall apart, given the history of members cheating on production cuts. New Nigeria and Libya production could hit the market this year. Meanwhile, Canadian heavy crude production is expected to increase by 600,000 bpd in the next couple of years. Indeed, this is a lot of oil, but there is also an elephant in the room: U.S. [Read more]
Crude in 2017: Will the bulls give way to bears?
2016 was yet another wild year for oil prices, and 2017 could be just as volatile. No amount of OPEC “jaw-boning” will create a sustained medium to long-term stability in the price of oil, and there are serious questions about the arguments and optimism of oil bulls in recent months. It is clear, however, that operational excellence and optimization of assets will continue to be the name of the game in this third year of abundance in global energy markets. The pressure to deliver value by [Read more]
A few bright prospects for Western Canadian NGL and Petrochemicals
There has been a lot of movement in Western Canada’s natural gas midstream industry despite challenging market conditions, including bearish natural gas prices, continued competition from US shale production, and a lack of global market reach through LNG/LPG export capabilities. Natural gas midstreamers still see long term opportunity in Western Canada, and it is an opportune time to save on skilled labour costs by proceeding with projects in stronger, but still fragile markets for oil. Two [Read more]