CALGARY - A Canadian oil company with production from both oilsands and light oil and gas wells is forecasting lower spending and little change in production in 2021. Athabasca Oil Corp. says it plans to spend $75 million next year, versus $85 million in 2020, with $70 million of that focused on drilling wells to sustain production at its Leismer oilsands project, which employs steam to produce bitumen. It says it plans to drill no new wells in its light oil division but added its minimal [Read more]

FRANKFURT - The OPEC oil producers' cartel was to push ahead with a new round of discussions Tuesday about how much to pump next year as countries wrestled over whether to extend the production cuts that have been supporting prices depressed by the pandemic. Members adjourned a videoconference after a first day of deliberations Monday ended without an agreement. They also put off from Tuesday to Thursday a meeting with non-OPEC oil producers like Russia, who have been co-ordinating their [Read more]

CALGARY - An environmental law group has lost its bid to pause Alberta's inquiry into where critics of its oil and gas industry get their funding. Ecojustice sought an injunction in the summer to suspend the inquiry, headed by forensic accountant Steve Allan, until there is a decision on whether it's legal. The group filed a lawsuit last November alleging the inquiry is politically motivated, biased and outside provincial jurisdiction and those accusations have yet to be heard in [Read more]

CALGARY - Canadian exports of crude oil by rail are bouncing back after falling to an eight-year low in July. The Canada Energy Regulator says rail shipments of oil in September amounted to 94,440 barrels per day, nearly double the 51,000 bpd shipped in August. Only 39,000 bpd was shipped in July. That's less than a tenth of the record 412,000 bpd moved by rail in February. Rail transportation of crude oil is considered to be more expensive than shipping by pipeline so shippers tend to [Read more]