BOE Report

Cheap oil dims spirit of energy sector, but businesses optimistic overall: BoC

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada says while plummeting oil prices have darkened the confidence of firms linked to the energy sector, Canadian businesses overall see brighter days ahead.The central bank's latest business outlook survey, released Monday, found companies in energy-rich Western Canada planned to reduce their investments in equipment and hiring following the oil-price collapse.On the other hand, Eastern and Central Canadian companies said they were planning to invest more, particularly in [Read more]

TSX set for more volatility as traders assess damage from oil price collapse

TORONTO - The Toronto stock market is likely in for another rocky week as traders try to assess where oil prices will end up and how the collapse in prices to 5 1/2 year lows is impacting other corporate sectors. It's a light week for economic data but investors will start to turn their focus to corporate earnings as the fourth-quarter reporting season gets moving in the United States. The Toronto market had a dreadful start to the 2015 trading year, with the TSX losing 369 points or 2.5 [Read more]

Venezuela, Saudi leaders meet and talk oil prices in Riyadh

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro met Sunday with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman, a day after talks with Iran's supreme leader focused on the slump in global oil prices. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that the leaders discussed areas of cooperation between the two OPEC-member countries and ways to promote bilateral ties. The brief statement did not elaborate, though it said Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi and Venezuelan Oil Minister Asdrubal Chavez [Read more]

Will low oil prices force Ottawa to open contingency reserve to balance books?

OTTAWA - Experts weighing the threat of low oil prices to the federal government's bottom line are asking themselves a follow-up question: what's to become of Ottawa's contingency reserve?Many budget watchers believe the cheaper crude will challenge the Conservative government to keep its long-held promise to pull Canada out of the red in 2015-16.And the longer oil stays low, the more likely the federal government will have to dip into the country's $3-billion rainy day fund, which was set aside [Read more]

Shell Canada to cut less than 10 per cent of Alberta Albian oilsands workforce

EDMONTON - Shell Canada Ltd. says it is reducing its workforce at its Albian Sands oilsands operations near Fort McMurray, Alta.A company spokesman says the cuts will affect less than 10 per cent of its 3,000-plus workforce at the Muskeg River and Jackpine oilsands mines.Cameron Yost says the actual number of reductions hasn't been determined and most of the people who will be affected will be salaried employees.He says the cuts are to ensure that Shell's oilsands business remains competitive [Read more]

Nebraska high court tosses suit over Keystone pipeline route

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska's highest court threw out a challenge Friday to a proposed route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, even though a majority of judges agreed the landowners who sued should have won their case. The decision removes a major roadblock for the $7 billion cross-continental project that Republicans have vowed to make a key part of their 2015 agenda in Congress. Four judges on the seven-member Nebraska Supreme Court said the landowners should have won the case. Their [Read more]

Husky Energy’s main shareholder, Li Ka-shing, announces overhaul of conglomerate

HONG KONG - Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, who has been Asia's richest person for nearly two decades and the leading shareholder in Canada's Husky Energy Inc., announced Friday a reorganization of his sprawling conglomerate into two new listed companies.Li and members of his family control Hong Kong-listed Cheung Kong and its affiliate Hutchison Whampoa which together control a roughly 70 per cent Calgary-based Husky (TSX:HSE).Through a series of stock transactions, which are subject to [Read more]

Senate panel moves Keystone XL pipeline bill forward despite veto threat

WASHINGTON - House Republicans are on track to easily pass legislation to authorize the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, moving Congress closer to a clash with President Barack Obama.The project would move tar sands oil from Canada 1,179 miles (1,900 kilometres) south to refineries on Gulf of Mexico Coast. Supporters say it would create jobs and ease American dependence on Middle East oil. Critics argue that the drilling is environmentally harmful, and said much of the Canadian [Read more]

Coleman says LNG proposals will take flight in B.C. in 2015

VICTORIA - Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman says he expects British Columbia's dreams of building a liquefied natural gas industry will come true in 2015 with energy companies deciding to proceed on plans to build pipelines and export terminals.In an statement released Wednesday, Coleman says several leading LNG proponents will make final investment decisions this year to move ahead with some of the largest capital projects in British Columbia's history.Coleman's comments come [Read more]

Most of Canada’s oilsands unusable if world moves on climate: report

British researchers have concluded that most of Canada's oilsands will have to be left in the ground if the world gets serious about climate change.The report, published in the journal Nature, says three-quarters of all Canada's oil reserves and 85 per cent of its oilsands can't be burned if the world wants to limit global warming. The report also concludes that no country's Arctic energy resources can be developed if global temperature increases are to be kept manageable.It adds that about [Read more]