CALGARY - The stream of traffic between Cold Lake, Alta., and nearby oilfields has slowed to a trickle."It's definitely a noticeable slowdown," said Mayor Craig Copeland, who has been hearing from hotels, restaurants and retailers that business is down about 30 per cent year-over-year in the oilpatch's bedroom community.It's not much of a surprise, with crude prices spending most of the year under US$50 a barrel and sinking below US$40 a barrel this month. Most analysts expect the doldrums to [Read more]
Companies in ailing oilpatch look for ways to avoid or delay layoffs
CALGARY - Companies in the ailing oilpatch are looking at ways to avoid layoffs — or at the very least to delay or minimize them.Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX:CNQ) has not had to trim its workforce of more than 7,600 as a result of the crude price collapse."In lieu of layoffs, we went to our staff and said 'we will do wage reductions.' And every employee who made more than $50,000 had a wage reduction," chairman Murray Edwards said to applause at a recent business forum in Lake Louise, [Read more]
Alberta delays release of results of oil royalty review until January
EDMONTON - Alberta's highly anticipated review of its energy royalty regime has been delayed until the new year.Premier Rachel Notley had promised that a panel report on the issue and the government's response to that report would be out by the end of December.But Notley said Thursday her government wants to take more time to make sure it gets its response right."The delay is relatively small because we know that people are looking for the outcome sooner rather than later," Notley told a news [Read more]
Laid-off oil and gas workers confront evolving job hunt where marketing is key
CALGARY - Tens of thousands of people who have lost their jobs in Alberta's oil-and-gas sector are confronting a rapidly changing job market.Not only has competition become fierce for the few jobs available, but the way people find and get those jobs is also changing, says Alan Kearns, founder of career firm Careerjoy."Now it's about marketing yourself more than it is about just sending out resumes," said Kearns.Job seekers need to think of themselves as independent business people trading on [Read more]
Calgary faces both uncertainty and opportunity in 2016 after oil price plunge
CALGARY - A year into the global oil price plummet, and Calgary's boom-and-bust economy is decidedly leaning towards bust.Home prices are down, unemployment is up, food bank usage is climbing, and no one knows when things might turn around with oil below US$40 a barrel on Monday from highs of well over US$100 less than two years ago."It's very uneasy," Stephen Scott, 45, who lost his engineering job at Cenovus Energy in an October wave of layoffs, said in a recent interview. "There are probably [Read more]
Alberta’s energy minister says workers who’ve lost oilpatch jobs should upgrade
CALGARY - Alberta's energy minister says the government hopes people who have lost their jobs in the oilpatch will use the downturn to upgrade their skills.Marg McCuaig-Boyd says skilled journeymen with the right credentials could move to British Columbia to find work until energy prices bounce back.But she says workers with fewer skills should take advantage of apprencticeship programs.The minister says where she lives in northwestern Alberta, skilled workers can move back and forth to B.C. on [Read more]
Alberta government says energy regulator review won’t include its main mandate
EDMONTON - The Alberta government says the province's energy regulator is performing well and there are no plans to make major changes to the agency.Premier Rachel Notley had voiced concerns that the Alberta Energy Regulator has responsibility for both promoting energy development and protecting the environment.Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said Notley's comments were misconstrued."She (Notley) and I have been clear since the beginning that we are not breaking up the AER," the minister said [Read more]
Questions arise over Canadian Oil Sands as it lays out 2016 spending plans
CALGARY - Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., fighting a hostile takeover bid by Suncor Energy, has laid out spending plans and performance targets for next year that it says demonstrate shareholders are well-served under the status quo.Throughout the heated takeover debate, Suncor (TSX:SU) has cast COS (TSX:COS) as a risky investment as a stand-alone firm, given the likelihood of a prolonged oil price downturn.But on a conference call Tuesday, COS CEO Ryan Kubik said with major project spending complete [Read more]
Saskatchewan projecting $262M deficit as lower oil prices hit revenue
REGINA - Tanking oil prices are forcing the Saskatchewan government to put the brakes on spending.A budget update shows the province is projecting a deficit of $262 million, compared with a surplus of just over $100 million that was forecast in March.Finance Minister Kevin Doherty says getting the books back in the black is going "to be a tough challenge.""I want to be definitive here, my goal is to try to get us to balance. I'm not sure I can get us there," Doherty said at a news conference [Read more]
Ruling to come in Suncor Energy’s hostile bid for Canadian Oil Sands
CALGARY - The Alberta Securities Commission has ruled that Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. can stall a hostile takeover bid by oilsands behemoth Suncor Energy for a month.Although it gives the target company less time than it wanted to seek an alternative to Suncor's unwelcome advances, COS said Monday it's pleased with the decision."The ASC decision applies the reins to Suncor, who tried to stampede our shareholders," said COS chairman Donald Lowry.COS put in place a new shareholder rights plan, also [Read more]
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