BOE Report

Spring will demonstrate impact of oil price on Alberta’s real estate: expert

TORONTO - Royal LePage says home sales in the spring real estate market will be the first indication of how lower oil prices have affected home sales in Western Canada.Chief executive Phil Soper told the Economic Club of Canada on Wednesday that job losses in the oil patch could lead to a "significant and extended downturn" in Alberta's real estate sector.In January, Canada's largest oil sands company, Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU), announced plans to lay off 1,000 workers as it grapples with the [Read more]

TransCanada tells U.S. State Dept. that EPA got Keystone XL assessment wrong

WASHINGTON - The Canadian government has accused a U.S. federal agency of a dishonest intervention in the Keystone XL pipeline debate, voicing its displeasure in a combative diplomatic letter.Ambassador Gary Doer said the Environmental Protection Agency used out-of-date data, worst-case scenarios, and erroneous comparisons in its submission on the pipeline."One is left with the conclusion that there has been significant distortion and omission to arrive at the EPA's conclusion," Doer wrote in a [Read more]

Republican-led Congress set to pass bill approving Keystone XL oil pipeline despite Obama veto

WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress is set to send a bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline to President Barack Obama, who has vowed to veto it.The House is expected to pass later Wednesday a Senate version of the bill.The measure has been tweaked from the version the House passed easily last month.But it does include a provision saying climate change is not a hoax, which could cause some conservative Republicans to think twice.The vote caps weeks of debate over one of the [Read more]

Halliburton says it will cut 5,000 to 6,200 jobs in response to plunge in oil prices

NEW YORK - Oil and gas drilling services company Halliburton said Tuesday that it will eliminate at least 5,000 jobs in response to falling oil prices.The Houston company said it will lay off 6.5 to 8 per cent of its staff, which represents 5,005 to 6,160 employees based on its total from the end of 2014.The company said the cuts will come from all areas of its operations and that the moves are necessary because of the difficult market. Halliburton did not provide any details on the timing of [Read more]

Global energy agency says oil prices set for swift recovery but no return to recent highs

PARIS - The price of oil is poised for a "relatively swift" recovery following the recent collapse to under $50 a barrel, but it will not come close to returning to the highs of past years, the International Energy Agency predicted Tuesday.In a report, the Paris-based organization of 29 major oil-importing nations said the rebound in recent days of the oil price "will be comparatively limited in scope, with prices stabilizing at levels higher than recent lows but substantially below the highs of [Read more]

IEA sees Canada crude output growing, but more slowly than thought

CALGARY - The International Energy Agency says Canada's crude output is expected to grow between now and the end of the decade, but not by as much as previously thought.The IEA also says the price of crude is poised to recover soon but won't come close to the levels reached last summer.In its latest report, the Paris-based organization predicts Canada's production will grow to just under five million barrels a day by 2020, about 810,000 barrels a day more than in 2014.However, that is 430,000 [Read more]

OPEC lowers forecast for Canadian crude production in latest report

CALGARY - The Organization of Oil Exporting Countries is expecting production to grow more slowly than previously expected from countries outside the cartel, including Canada.In its monthly oil market report, the group says non-OPEC supply is expected to grow by 850,000 barrels per day in 2015, but that's 420,000 barrels per day lower than it forecast in its previous report.In Canada, oil output is expected to average 4.35 million barrels a day, which is 20,000 barrels lower than OPEC's earlier [Read more]

Ottawa, industry celebrate as oilsands victory in EU made official

CALGARY - Oilsands crude can now be sent to Europe without a "dirty oil" label, but that doesn't necessarily mean a parade of bitumen-filled tankers will be crossing the Atlantic any time soon.In December, oilsands exporters won a narrow victory in the European Parliament over its fuel quality directive. On Friday, it became official.The original version of the directive singled out oilsands crude as more carbon intensive, but the revised one voted on in December didn't include that stigma. As [Read more]

Feds need to work out common energy strategy with provinces, LNG proponent says

OTTAWA - It is long past time the federal government worked out a national energy strategy with the provinces, says the president of a proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal in Nova Scotia.Alfred Sorensen, the president and CEO of Pieridae Energy Ltd., said the country's complicated federal system is the biggest barrier he sees to attracting foreign buyers and investors.Pieridae Energy is proposing to build an LNG export terminal in Goldboro, N.S., and in 2013 signed a 20-year deal to [Read more]

Suncor sees construction costs coming down in the oilsands as activity slows

CALGARY - Costs are coming down and high-quality workers are easier to come by in Alberta's oilsands as actvity slows in response to lower world oil prices, the CEO of Suncor Energy Inc. said Thursday.The Calgary-based oilsands producer is pressing ahead with its $13.5-billion Fort Hills oilsands mine, in partnership with the Canadian arm of France's Total and Vancouver miner Teck Resources.First oil is expected in 2017, eventually ramping up to 180,000 barrels per day.The region is seeing some [Read more]