Western Canada’s fleet of drilling rigs went up by 2 to 142 according to data collected by Baker Hughes for the week of August 16th. Alberta grew its fleet by 1 to 95, while Saskatchewan increased by 2 to 33. Oil rigs went from 94 to 101, natural gas drilling dropped to 41 from 46. View a full breakdown of Western Canada’s rig activity. [Read more]
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A look at the most active plays in Alberta for the first half of 2019
In the top four plays in Alberta, there were 452 wells drilled in total, with 225 gas wells and 224 oil wells. Montney had the most drilling with 172 wells drilled, followed by Cardium at 103, Duvernay at 91, and Viking at 86. Despite gas pricing at very low levels, virtually half the wells drilled in these formations targeted natural gas. Overall, drilling remains very depressed in Alberta as producers continue to face challenges related to continued production curtailments and record [Read more]
Oilsands firms considering diluent recovery units to boost crude-by-rail volumes
CALGARY - Ongoing pipeline project delays and growth in crude-by-rail capacity from Western Canada are leading some oilsands producers to consider spending billions of dollars to build diluent recovery units. Oilsands bitumen is a thick, sticky oil which must be diluted with about half as much light petroleum to flow in a pipeline, but diluent isn't needed for rail transport because the product can be heated for loading and unloading. Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick says in a [Read more]
BP publishes LNG contract templates to push industry standardisation
Global oil and gas major BP has published its master sales and purchase contract templates for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading business and says it is the first of its peers to do so. BP , which has a global LNG portfolio made up of volumes it has produced or bought, said on its website it expects that publishing its LNG master sales and purchase agreement (MSPA) templates will "contribute to the broader discussion around standardisation and liquidity for LNG transactions." The LNG [Read more]
Bid for Inter Pipeline highlights Canada’s oil sector bright spot
A recent unsolicited bid for Inter Pipeline Ltd has highlighted the potential of Canada's midstream companies to offer insulation from volatile oil prices. Inter Pipeline, Pembina Pipeline Corp and Keyera Corp own key infrastructure such as gathering pipelines, gas-processing plants and storage tanks that are in high demand, and reported record second quarter profits. They are sometimes overlooked, however, because of the wider energy sector's problems of congested export channels and low [Read more]
OPEC sees bearish oil outlook for rest of 2019, points to 2020 surplus
OPEC delivered a downbeat oil market outlook for the rest of 2019 on Friday as economic growth slows and highlighted challenges in 2020 as rivals pump more, building a case to keep up an OPEC-led pact to curb supply. In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2019 by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.10 million bpd and indicated the market will be in slight surplus in 2020. The bearish outlook due to slowing [Read more]
Perpetual Energy Inc. Receives Favourable Decision Relating to the Ongoing Sequoia Litigation
Perpetual Energy Inc. ("Perpetual" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench (the "Court") has dismissed and struck all but one of the claims filed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Inc. LIT ("PWC"), in its capacity as trustee in bankruptcy of Sequoia Resources Corp. ("Sequoia") against Perpetual and Sue Riddell Rose, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer ("Ms. Rose"). These claims relate to a transaction that involved the sale by Perpetual of legacy [Read more]
Heavy differential widens as trade cycle wraps up
The Canadian heavy crude discount widened against benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures on Thursday, the last day of the monthly trade cycle: * Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for September delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, last traded at $12.15 per barrel below WTI, according to Net Energy Exchange. On Wednesday WCS settled at $11.20 per barrel below WTI. * Thursday is the last day of the monthly Canadian crude trading window, in which the bulk of market activity [Read more]
Altura Energy Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2019 Financial and Operating Results
Altura Energy Inc. ("Altura" or the "Corporation") (TSXV: ATU) is pleased to announce its financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019. The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements and related management’s discussion and analysis ("MD&A") are available at www.sedar.com and www.alturaenergy.ca. Selected financial and operating information for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 appear below and should be read in conjunction [Read more]
North Dakota oil production up 30,000 bpd in June vs May to 1,425,000 bpd
Oil production in North Dakota rose 30,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) to 1,425,000 bpd in June, monthly data from the state Industrial Commission showed. The data was released on the North Dakota Industrial Commission's monthly index report page and has been rounded to the nearest 5,000 barrels. It may differ slightly from the commission's general statistics report, also available on its website. [Read more]