Western Canadian crude oil inventories dropped by 1.2 million barrels in August to total just under 26 million barrels, levels last seen in November 2017, energy information provider Genscape said on Friday. The draw on inventories is good news for Canada's main oil-producing province Alberta, which this year imposed production curtailments on oil companies to ease congestion on export pipelines and help reduce the amount of crude in storage. Last month, the Alberta government extended [Read more]
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Alberta government to review energy regulator, replaces board members
The Alberta government has announced a review of the province's energy regulator. Energy Minister Sonya Savage says the review will look at overall changes to the Alberta Energy Regulatory's mandate, operations and governance. She says its current board of directors is also being replaced with interim members. The moves were a campaign promise Premier Jason Kenney made before his United Conservatives were elected in April. Kenney had said one of his first tasks would be replacing the [Read more]
Canada rig count down 3, continues to lag behind last year’s activity
Canada’s fleet of active drilling rigs decreased by 3 from last week according to data from Baker Hughes. Total drilling count was 147 at September 6. 102 rigs were drilling for oil; 45 for natural gas. Counts are still well below the activity levels from one year ago, when 204 rigs were working. Both oil and gas drilling are down considerably from last years counts by 31 and 26 respectively. Historically, drilling activity levels are steadily active from summer until the end of the [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for third week in a row -Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a third week in a row after drilling slowed for nine straight months as independent producers cut spending by about 10% this year. Drillers cut four oil rigs in the week to Sept. 6, bringing the total count down to 738, the lowest since November 2017, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. In the same week a year ago, there were 860 active rigs. The [Read more]
$2 million gift proves again that “dark money” is mostly on the anti-development side
Eyebrows were raised this week when an American group gave $2 million US plus unspecified “expert resources” to Tzeporah Berman, the Vancouver-based campaigner who has made a lucrative career out of working with her U.S.-based advisors to kneecap the Canadian resource economy. Berman’s latest assignment, according to the American group channeling the money to Berman, is to “engineer a large reduction in new oil and gas development that will ensure huge amounts of carbon stay un-combusted and [Read more]
Canada continues to be the world’s preferred supplier for oil and natural gas: Ipsos international survey
CALGARY, Sept. 6, 2019 /CNW/ - The world wants Canadian oil and natural gas, according to an updated international research survey by Ipsos, conducted on behalf of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). In the 2019 Global Energy Pulse, a follow up to its 2017 survey, Ipsos found respondents from 31 countries, chose Canada as their No. 1 oil and natural gas exporter among the world's top 11 energy-exporting nations. Canada's upstream oil and natural gas industry was [Read more]
U.S. shale firms cut budgets, staff as oil-price outlook dims
Oil producers and their suppliers are cutting budgets, staffs and production goals amid a growing consensus of forecasts that oil and gas prices will stay low for several years. The U.S. has 904 working rigs, down 14% from a year ago, and even that is probably too many, estimated Harold Hamm, chief executive of shale producer Continental Resources, which has reduced the number of rigs at work. Bankruptcy filings by U.S. energy producers through mid-August this year have nearly matched the [Read more]
Billionaire Li Ka-Shing offered C$12.4 bln for Canada’s Inter Pipeline -Globe and Mail
Canada's Inter Pipeline Ltd rejected a C$12.4 billion ($9.37 billion) buyout offer from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing's CK Infrastructure Holdings Ltd in July, the Globe and Mail reported late on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the two companies. Inter Pipeline had said previously that it had received a takeover bid in August without naming the buyer. It also said then it was not in talks to sell. Shares of the company, which owns pipelines in Alberta and Saskatchewan as well as [Read more]
Enbridge provides update on Canadian Mainline open season process
Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB) (NYSE: ENB) (Enbridge or the Company) provided an update today on the Canadian Mainline open season regulatory process. On August 2, 2019, Enbridge commenced an open season, offering firm capacity on its crude oil Mainline system, effective upon expiry of the Competitive Toll Settlement that is in place until July 1, 2021. The open season is the first stage of Enbridge determining whether there is sufficient commercial interest for its offering to provide priority [Read more]
Dozens of Enbridge oil shippers wade into dispute over proposed pipeline overhaul
More than two dozen oil companies wrote to Canada's energy regulator on Thursday to support or oppose it intervening in Enbridge Inc's contentious proposal to overhaul shipping contracts on the Mainline pipeline network. The Mainline is North America's largest pipeline system, shipping around 3 million barrels per day of crude from western Canada to the U.S. Midwest. Enbridge currently allocates capacity based on monthly nominations from shippers, but is proposing to switch to long-term [Read more]