At the end of August Finance Minister Travis Toews released his budget update, which was 20 pages doused from top to bottom in red ink. Albertans couldn’t afford our high-cost provincial government before the pandemic. And Toews’ budget update shows we definitely can’t afford our high-cost provincial government now. At $24 billion, this year’s deficit…
The world is past the era of growing crude oil demand and it may never recover to pre-pandemic levels
The crude games continue. While crude oil markets continue to be sloppy, despite the possibility of a small bull run just before the weekend, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies in OPEC-plus are opting to keep their cards close to their chests. Avoiding any hint about their next steps, after their virtual…
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre When forecasting future oil consumption around the world, many people have opinions and agendas. Forecasts rooted in facts and technological capabilities are more rare. An example of an informed opinion comes from Vaclav Smil, professor emeritus of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Environment. Smil is…
Here’s one thing Premier Jason Kenney and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can agree on: hiking taxes would be a bad idea. “I cannot imagine a dumber thing to do in the midst of a time of economic fragility, an oil price collapse and a global recession than to add a multi-billion dollar tax on the…
The crude oil demand picture remains murky at best. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has cut its 2021 demand growth outlook to 6.5 million barrels per day (bpd), 500,000 bpd lower than projected last month. Based on patterns, the EIA now expects Chinese demand to grow by one million bpd next year rather than…
Road to Reconciliation: An examination of what meaningful consultation and economic reconciliation look like
If you relied on the headlines alone, you might conclude that the Indigenous peoples of Canada are squarely against oil and gas development. You would be wrong. Headlines, by their nature, highlight crisis and conflict in simplified terms. But the debate over Indigenous support for resource development is highly nuanced. Readers must go beyond the…
Alberta researchers identify gradients of risk for preterm births, small and large size at birth, smoking and drug use by mothers
The highest concentration of adverse birth outcomes and related maternal risk factors occur in rural areas of Alberta with the lowest socio-economic status, according to new research from the University of Alberta. “When it comes to perinatal health, postal code can be as important as your genetic code,” said perinatal epidemiologist Maria-Beatriz Ospina, assistant professor of obstetrics…
While oil and gas investment has grown substantially in other parts of the world, Canada has failed to keep pace
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre Over the past decade, one oft-heard claim is that oil and gas is a ‘sunset’ industry, where investment in Canada can be expected to decline given a worldwide flight from oil and investment. However, international data (available from 2009 to 2017) show no such worldwide flight…
Generating, rather than consuming, government revenues will require a clear and profound reversal by the current government
After five years of suffering in eco-zealot purgatory under the Liberals led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the half million or so Canadians whose livelihood depends on the oil and gas industry finally got some good news: The oil sands are now part of the government’s green energy agenda! In an Aug. 12 interview, Natural…
Despite some oil industry analysts and observers looking at the glass as half full, there still seems to be ample reasons for gloom
Forecasting crude oil markets remains a matter of perspective. Global oil demand growth is expected to taper off, journalist and analyst Julianne Geiger says, referencing the latest report from energy consultancy IHS Markit. Crude oil demand sits at 89 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, IHS Markit says. It’s expected to rise, then level off at…