Royal Bank of Canada , Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce , Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank are the main lenders for Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the company said in fillings on Thursday. Activists have said they would exert pressure on those banks to drop Trans Mountain once they are named. The four are among 24 banks that granted C$5.5 billion in loans to an operating subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd , which is [Read more]
Brent crude oil edges back above $45, but excess weighs
Oil edged up from multi-month lows on Thursday, but prices remained under pressure from a supply glut that has persisted despite OPEC-led efforts to balance the market. Brent crude futures were up 43 cents at $45.25 a barrel at 1229 GMT, after falling as low as $44.53 earlier in the day. They fell 2.6 percent in the previous session to $44.35, their lowest since November. U.S. crude futures were up 30 cents at $42.83 a barrel, after also slipping earlier in the day. On Wednesday, they [Read more]
Cenovus facing tough market for critical asset sales
Cenovus Energy Inc's efforts to sell C$5 billion ($3.8 billion) of energy assets, already facing a rocky road because weak oil prices are depressing the appetite for deals, has become complicated by the surprise departure of its chief executive officer, fund managers said. Brian Ferguson's announcement on Tuesday that he will step down as CEO in October is the latest sign of tumult within Canada's oil sands industry, which has seen international oil majors dump $22.5 billion in assets this [Read more]
Oil headed for weakest first-half performance in two decades
Oil was mostly flat on Wednesday, after paring earlier losses, but was set for its biggest price drop in the first half of the year since 1997, a sign that investors are discounting evidence that major producers are sticking to a deal to cut output. August Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 8 cents at $46.10 a barrel by 1258 GMT, having fallen earlier to seven-month lows at $45.53. U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 14 cents at $43.65, having hit their lowest since September on Tuesday. So [Read more]
Cenovus CEO says company cut some jobs as it reviews operations
Cenovus Energy Inc Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said on Tuesday that the company expects to cut some jobs as part of an effort to reduce costs by C$1 billion ($754 million). Ferguson disclosed the plan in a briefing with reporters, saying the company would make the cuts as it assessed its operations to identify "redundancies" and "overlap" in the company. [Read more]
New British Columbian government seen short-lived
A new left-leaning government has yet to take office in the Canadian province of British Columbia after a drawn-out vote recount, but speculation is mounting there may soon be a new election. With a fragile one-seat lead, the government set to be formed by a New Democrat-Green alliance could be sunk by a single lawmaker missing a crucial confidence vote due to unforeseen events. The political limbo has created uncertainty for business in Canada's third-most-populous province, notably for [Read more]
Oil prices hit seven-month lows on global oversupply
Oil prices fell to seven-month lows on Tuesday after news of increases in supply by several key producers, a trend that has undermined attempts by OPEC and others to support the market through reduced output. Benchmark Brent LCOc1 dropped $1.29 to a low of $45.62 a barrel, its weakest since Nov. 15, two weeks before OPEC and other producers agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from January. Brent was trading around $45.81, down $1.10, by 1330 GMT. The [Read more]
Innovators toil to revive Canada oil sands as majors exit
In the boreal forests and on the remote prairies of Alberta, a handful of firms are running pilot projects they hope will end a two-decade drought in innovation and stem the exodus of top global energy firms from Canada's oil sands. They are searching for a breakthrough that will cut the cost of pumping the tar-like oil from the country's vast underground bitumen reservoirs and better compete with the booming shale industry in the United States. If they fail, a bigger chunk of the world's [Read more]