2018 began as a promising year for Canada's oil and gas industry. After a 2 1/2 year industry downturn, oil prices appeared to be heading in a positive direction. Ultimately, however, prices took a significant nosedive in Canada due to a severe supply glut in the industry. Most recently, WTI has also plummeted, wiping out over a year of gains in 2 short months. Here's the top 10 news-worthy stories that affected Canada's oil and gas industry over the past year: 10. University of Alberta [Read more]
Headlines
More rallies held to support pipelines; speaker says convoy coming to Ottawa
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Alta. - Speakers at another pro-pipeline rally in Alberta continued their attacks on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday, saying if leaders in Ottawa don't hear their message now, they will when a planned convoy arrives there in 2019. Chad Miller with the group Oilfield Dads told the crowd gathered in Rocky Mountain House that the province is suffering its "worst recession turned depression" in a generation due to weakened oil prices, exacerbated by a lack of [Read more]
Canada Weekly Rig Count Down 47% to 70
Western Canada’s fleet of drilling rigs decreased by 61 rigs, or 47% to a total of 70 according to data collected by Baker Hughes for the week of December 28th. From last Friday, Alberta rig counts went down 47 to 57. Saskatchewan's rig count decreased from 11 to 0. Oil drilling went from 58 to 15; natural gas rigs decreased from 73 to 55. View a full breakdown of western Canada’s rig activity. [Read more]
U.S. drillers add oil rigs for second week in a row
U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a second week in a row even as oil prices fell to 1-1/2-year lows and headed for losses of more than 20 percent this year. Drillers added 2 oil rigs in the week to Dec. 28, bringing the total count to 885, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. . For the month the rig count fell by 2, its first decline in six months. But for the quarter, the count was up 26, the fourth increase in a [Read more]
Roiled in oil: Alberta votes in 2019 as energy issues, Trudeau dominate debate
EDMONTON -- The year 2019 will decide whether Premier Rachel Notley's NDP gets to finish the job of getting more oil to market or become the first party in provincial history to be one and done. "I know that the opposition wants to sort of revel in what they insist on hoping is defeat, but we've made more progress on getting a pipeline to tidewater than any other government has in the last 70 years," Notley told The Canadian Press in a year-end interview. Notley will take voters to the [Read more]
CN Rail lining up pilot plant partners to make oilsands bitumen pucks
CALGARY - Canadian National Railway Co. says it is planning to build a pilot plant worth up to $50 million next year to create pucks made of oilsands bitumen to transport by rail and ships to customers around the world. CN has been working for years on a technology that mixes and coats the heavy, sticky oil with polymer plastic, creating a pellet-shaped product called CanaPux that can be shipped in rail cars and will float if spilled into water. The railway is in discussions with [Read more]
Encana completes sale of non-core San Juan asset; reaffirms commitment to $1.25 billion share buyback in 2019
CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TSX, NYSE: ECA Encana Corporation (Encana) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., has completed the previously announced sale of its San Juan asset in New Mexico to Denver-based DJR Energy. “This transaction continues our track record of unlocking value from non-core assets,” said Doug Suttles, Encana President & CEO. “The proceeds from this sale add to our financial strength and strongly support [Read more]
Enbridge gets $14.7M federal refund over Northern Gateway pipeline project
OTTAWA - Enbridge is getting a $14.7-million refund on fees it paid Canada's federal energy regulator for a pipeline it won't build. The Northern Gateway pipeline was supposed to connect Alberta's oilpatch to a port in Kitimat, B.C., but the plan came apart when the federal Liberals banned tankers carrying large amounts of crude oil from British Columbia's northern coast. Without tankers to serve the port, there was no point constructing more than 1,100 kilometres of pipeline to [Read more]
New NEB report gives insight into current Western Canadian oil supply and markets
CALGARY, Dec. 27, 2018 /CNW/ - Western Canada's oil supply is 365,000 barrels above the amount of oil flowing daily in existing pipelines, according to a new report on Western Canadian Crude Oil Supply, Markets, and Pipeline Capacity released today by the National Energy Board (NEB). This report gives insight into the imbalance between supply and capacity to move crude oil to markets and factors that have contributed to a wider discount (known as a differential) for Canadian crude oil; it [Read more]
Toronto stock market expected to recover in 2019 from worst year in decade
TORONTO - Canada's main stock market is expected to recover in 2019 from its worst performance in a decade that saw the exchange lose 15 per cent amid extreme volatility, plunging oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty, say markets experts. "Our outlook for 2019 is one of cautious optimism," says Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager for Fiera Capital. She expects equities will outperform bonds as global growth remains relatively healthy with a recession unlikely before late 2020. [Read more]