Premier Jason Kenney needs to get Alberta taxpayers out of the $70-billion debt hole so he needs to cut government labour costs that have ballooned by more than $3 billion during the downturn. Union bosses will oppose cuts, but their own advocacy against revenue-generating pipelines and in support of wasteful corporate welfare spending has made the need for cuts even greater. The Alberta Federation of Labour has consistently fought pipeline development, including the Trans Mountain project [Read more]
Headlines
Imperial announces 2019 financial and operating results
CALGARY, Alberta - Imperial Oil Limited (TSX:IMO): Full-year earnings of $2,200 million; $4,429 million cash generated from operations Annual production of 398,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, the highest in over 25 years Kearl supplemental crushing capacity online as planned Returned over $2 billion to shareholders in 2019 through share purchases and dividends Fourth quarter Twelve months millions of [Read more]
Pipestone Energy Corp. Announces the Keyera Wapiti Gas Plant Has Resumed Operations and Announces Timing of Year-End Reserves Update and Q4 2019 Financials
CALGARY, Alberta - (PIPE – TSX-V) Pipestone Energy Corp. (“Pipestone Energy” or the “Company”) announces that the Keyera Wapiti Gas Plant (“Keyera Plant”) has resumed operations and that Pipestone Energy has continuously flowed volumes into the plant over the last 24 hours without curtailment. Pipestone Energy has been informed that normal plant operations are expected to continue. Year-End 2019 Reserves The Company expects to provide an updated year-end 2019 reserve and resource [Read more]
Federal Court of Appeal to release decision in Trans Mountain challenge
VANCOUVER - The Federal Court of Appeal is set to release its decision on the latest challenge of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on Tuesday. Four First Nations from British Columbia filed court challenges after the federal government approved the project a second time last June. A court hearing in December was specifically focused on the government's consultation with the First Nations between August 2018 and June 2019. The consultation took place after the Court of Appeal struck [Read more]
PSAC Forecast Update: Oilpatch downturn – five years and still counting
CALGARY, AB – In its first update to the 2020 Canadian Oilfield Services Activity Forecast, released today, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) has revised the number of wells drilled (rig released) across Canada for 2020 to 4,800 wells. This represents an increase of 300 wells, or 7 percent, from PSAC’s original 2020 Forecast released in October 2019. PSAC is basing its updated 2020 Forecast on average natural gas prices of $1.85 CDN/mcf (AECO), crude oil prices of $59.00 [Read more]
Oilsands producer Cenovus pledges $50 million to build Indigenous housing
CALGARY - Indigenous leaders say they hope other companies will follow the lead of Cenovus Energy Inc. after it pledged to give $10 million per year over the next five years to support housing in six northern Alberta communities near its oilsands operations. Shirley Paradis, a councillor for the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, says the money is needed because the community's housing resources are stretched to the limit and government funding is inadequate to address the growing population. Vern [Read more]
CAPP Forecasts $2 billion increase in upstream oil and natural gas investment
CALGARY - Capital spending in the oil and natural gas industry is expected to be about $2 billion higher in 2020 compared to last year. This represents a four per cent increase in capital investment in the conventional side, and an eight per cent increase in the oil sands, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Conventional oil and natural gas capital investment for 2020 is forecast at $25.4 billion, up from an estimated $24.4 billion last [Read more]
Oil falls amid spread of Wuhan virus, rising crude inventories
Oil prices fell on Thursday, resuming their declines after a brief pause earlier this week, as alarm spread over the economic impact of the Wuhan virus in China, while a bigger-than-expected increase in U.S. crude stocks added to the negative tone. U.S. crude was down 51 cents, or 1%, at $52.82 a barrel, after dropping 0.3% in the previous session. Brent was down 62 cents, or 1%, at $59.19 a barrel by 0623 GMT, having risen 0.5% on Wednesday. Prices had steadied in recent days, after [Read more]
Column: Politicized, ignorant energy analysis infiltrates some surprising media channels – unchecked it will wipe us all out before climate change has a chance
Oh no, I can feel it, another diatribe coming on. Like a developing migraine, there's no point fighting it, the looming inevitability. My trigger is inadvertently stumbling on blistering displays of energy ignorance, which set me off, and out comes the Incredible Hulk. Look, I don’t want to go there either. I’d rather write about secure and reliable energy supplies, birds chirping, sunshine and koala bears. I keep my nose clean; I stay away from the CBC and similar to avoid the obvious [Read more]
Cold Bore Technology Closes Deals & Installs SmartPAD Completions Technology with Two New Permian Fracking Operators
CALGARY, Alberta - Cold Bore Technology Inc. (“Cold Bore”), a leader in completion optimization technology, announced today that it had finalized new deals with two leading energy producers based in Western Texas’ Permian Basin and completed installation of its SmartPAD completions operating system. The contracts represent the latest in a growing number of SmartPAD installations with major operators across North American fields over the past 12 months. The SmartPAD is the industry’s first [Read more]