Headlines

CALGARY - Analysts at CIBC say they're doubtful Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's plan to spur development of a West Coast bitumen pipeline will succeed. They say in a report that they applaud the effort and are open to the possibility of such a project going ahead, but the political and economic realities may be difficult to overcome. Smith says her government is putting up $14 million for early planning work on a pipeline that it hopes the private sector will eventually take over, with [Read more]

China’s biggest state banks are lending billions to Aramco’s Jafurah gas project, though its funds have passed on the opportunity to invest in the venture, three people familiar with the matter said. Chinese banks provided more than a third of the financing for what will potentially be the biggest shale gas project outside of the U.S., with Bank of China, ICBC and China Construction Bank each lending about $1 billion and Agricultural Bank of China around $750 million, two people familiar with [Read more]

The Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) strongly supports the Government of Alberta's decision to act as the proponent for a new pipeline from Alberta to the northwest coast of British Columbia. This is exactly the kind of bold, decisive leadership Canada needs to secure its economic future and strengthen our position as a global energy superpower. For too long, our industry has faced a critical barrier: lack of access to international markets. Every year without additional [Read more]

The Kremlin said on Thursday that France's boarding of a tanker suspected of belonging to the so-called shadow fleet involved in the Russian oil trade was "hysteria" that could create problems for global energy transportation routes. "I don't know what kind of oil, what is the origin of this oil," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in English in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "What if it's not Russian oil?" "What if France is going to create enormous problems for all the ways [Read more]

The unwinding of OPEC+ production cuts, China storage flows and geopolitical tensions have been the primary drivers of crude oil prices this year, and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Knowing what is influencing the market is one thing. Predicting with any accuracy how these factors will develop is another entirely. The problem for the crude industry is that all three of these factors are inherently unpredictable and subject to fairly rapid changes, which makes [Read more]