CALGARY - Drilling activity in the Canadian oilpatch will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, according to a new industry forecast. The Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) says it expects a total of 5,400 wells to be drilled in Canada next year, an increase of 16 per cent year-over-year and the most activity since 2019. PSAC also revised its 2021 forecast to 4,650 wells, in light of increased activity in the last half of the year. At the start of 2021, PSAC was predicting [Read more]

Alberta's top representative to the global climate conference taking place in Scotland says the province is not alone in facing the challenges of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Steve MacDonald, who heads a provincial agency that funds carbon-reducing technology, is one of Alberta's two official representatives at the global conference. He says that while Albertans can often feel singled out by measures to fight climate change, the COP26 conference has shown him that countries [Read more]

EDMONTON - The Alberta government has released its road map to reach a goal of becoming a world leader in hydrogen exports by the end of the decade. Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta is well-positioned with its existing energy infrastructure to become a global supplier of choice for hydrogen and he calls it a “game-changer” in the climate change fight, given that hydrogen emits no greenhouse gases when burned. He says the global hydrogen market is expected to become worth up to $2.5 trillion [Read more]

The head of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says Canada's climate pledges risk making the country an "outlier" with its economic competitors. Tim McMillan says that as Canada increases its environmental ambition at events such as this week's climate conference in Scotland, the federal government must work harder to bring the rest of the world along. He says Canada risks losing investment to other jurisdictions if it moves too far on its own. McMillan says the government [Read more]

EDMONTON - The province with Canada's largest oil and gas industry has sent one of the country's smallest delegations to the international climate conference, where emissions from that industry are under scrutiny. A preliminary list of the Canadian delegation to COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, shows Alberta has sent two bureaucrats. Newfoundland has nine people at the meetings, Manitoba has six and Ontario has four, as does the Northwest Territories. Quebec has 36 [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta politicians are warning the federal Liberal government that caps on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas will have to be set in consultation with the province. Both Premier Jason Kenney and New Democrat Opposition Leader Rachel Notley say Alberta has to be at the table when emissions caps are discussed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told the global climate conference taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, that Canada would impose a hard cap on emissions from the [Read more]