Headlines

EDMONTON - Alberta politicians are going back to the legislature this week with a plan to sit until late July and pass 10 bills, while physical distancing and dealing with COVID-19. Government house leader Jason Nixon said Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative cabinet ministers are to deliver an update on the pandemic in the house Wednesday and take Opposition questions on the government's handling of the crisis. Later this week, the government is to introduce bills that would [Read more]

CALGARY - Western Canadian producers are moving to restore some oil production as crude prices rise with demand thanks to the gradual opening of the world economy and OPEC and Russian output cuts. But analysts say oil companies hit hard by low oil prices so far this year are being cautious and will choke back oil output again if higher prices prove unstable. Analyst Phil Skolnick of Eight Capital says he's seeing anecdotal evidence that some of the 875,000 barrels a day of curtailed [Read more]

VICTORIA - More than 1,100 applications deluged a British Columbia program creating a funding plan to restore dormant and inactive oil and gas wells, within hours of the program's launch. Energy Minister Bruce Ralston says Monday's requests equal up to $152 million in reclamation work and if completed would potentially support up to 1,200 jobs and reclaim over 2,400 inactive wells. The federal government announced in April that B.C. would receive $120 million to clean up inactive oil and [Read more]

SOUTHEY, SK - Premier Scott Moe's endless dithering on whether or not to impose a settlement from the mediators in the Co-op Refinery lockout has prompted workers to establish information pickets at five rural Co-op properties. "It boggles the mind why Scott Moe can't finish the job he started," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "Why did he appoint the nation's best mediators if he was just going to sit on their recommendations? It doesn't make any sense." Members of Unifor [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta's government house leader is not backing away from his fellow minister's comment that the COVID-19 pandemic is a great time to build pipelines. On Friday, Energy Minister Sonya Savage told an energy industry podcast that because public health rules limit protest gatherings, it's a "great time" to be building a pipeline. House leader and Environment Minister Jason Nixon says Savage was just stating the obvious. He says the government will continue to stand up for the [Read more]

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday, boosted by increasing faith in the market that producers will to stick to commitments to cut crude supply while demand picks up with more cars back on the road as coronavirus lockdowns are eased around the world. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 47 cents, or 1.45%, to $34.33 a barrel. There was no WTI settlement on Monday because of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. Brent crude futures were up nearly 1.7%, or 59 cents to $36.12, [Read more]

Tim Harris was preparing to relocate for an assignment with energy services firm Halliburton Co for the fifth time in 15 years when his career came to a halt. A third-generation employee, Harris rose through the ranks at the top shale-oil services provider to oversee oilfield crews. He sailed through several busts, with the exception of a 9-month break in 2016. But April's historic price crash, which has left U.S. crude prices down 50% since January, put him and tens of thousands of oil [Read more]

Recovering demand as coronavirus lockdowns ease combined with output cuts by top producers could balance global oil markets as soon as June, some analysts and banks predict. "Bullish sentiment continues to gather momentum as we move closer to June, when ... the global crude balance is set to reach net short territory, to the tune of a non-negligible 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), its tightest point since August 2019," JBC Energy said. Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak was quoted [Read more]