It may be time to pay homage to hydroelectric dams and their role in our quality of life. But that homage may be more of a eulogy than a celebration. Large and small dams have a glorious history. Rivers turned grist mills that processed farmers’ grain into food, and powered machinery that sawed trees into…
The long-term view is frightening. With long gestation periods, new oil and gas projects may not get online when needed
International oil and gas exploration and production are in the doldrums and won’t likely rebound any time soon. Canada has curtailed its crude output by one million barrels per day (bpd). The country’s active oil and gas rig count had fallen to an all-time low of 17 in early June, Baker Hughes reported. That was…
Provincial governments need to be sober, disciplined, realistic and do whatever they can to not lose money for their citizens
While crude oil’s startling and unprecedented recent price plunge into negative territory was notable, it didn’t mean that producers were actually paying others to take oil off their hands. It did point to major problems the industry faces, however. In the short term, the foremost issue is weak demand. And it raised a significant problem…
Current oil production cuts can’t continue for long or the Saudis, and others, won’t balance their budgets
The U.S. is putting extreme pressure on the major oil producers, Saudi Arabia in particular, to cut output, firm up crude markets and ensure the continuity of the U.S. shale revolution. But on the other hand, the administration of United States President Donald Trump doesn’t want oil prices to go much higher. In an election…
It’s time to reduce funding to police and reallocate those dollars to more proactive ways to reduce crime
Here’s a couple of questions that might have seemed crazy to many people just a few short years ago but are gaining purchase today. Do we really need as much policing as we have? Or are the ever-growing police budgets actually inadvertently leading to greater violence? A lot of us have believed that police exist…
The oil price crash of recent weeks has triggered a wave of huge exploration and production capital expenditure cuts
Lack of appetite to invest in the energy sector is leading the world into a supply crunch, says the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its recently unveiled World Energy Investment (WEI) 2020 report. The COVID-19 pandemic is having widespread and often dramatic effects on investments in the energy sector. At the start of the year,…
Will producers be tempted by a rise in crude oil prices to disregard quotas and voluntary production cuts?
Oil markets have taken some respite. But is this rally sustainable? Prices were surging until reports that Russia might back off on oil production cuts spooked the market. But even with that uncertainty, we’ve seen a complete turnaround in the markets. Just a month ago, crude oil markets faced a bloodbath. Since then, demand has…
In Newfoundland and several other provinces, major power projects have created huge public debt
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is staring bankruptcy in the eye, according to recent news reports. There are a variety of reasons, which are typical for provincial politics. Politicians hate to cut services, love to cut taxes and hate to increase taxes because voters react to all of those things. Politicians aren’t leaders, they’re…
Oil and gas revenues can be used by tyrannies, autocracies and dictatorships to oppress their populations
Why would consumers treat tyranny oil differently than blood diamonds or clothing made by child labour? One of the more bizarre reactions to bare facts came recently after a colleague and I analyzed oil-and-gas-producing countries and their degree of freedom – the Tyranny Index, as we labelled it. Some argued such tracking is irrelevant because…
The need to generate cash, along with political pressure, compelled the Saudis to make some bitter decisions
Saudi Arabia has capitulated. A few moves here and there, in Washington and elsewhere, made the trick work. Saudi Arabia made a surprise announcement last week that it would cut its crude oil output by a further one million barrels per day (bpd) from planned June levels, “voluntarily.” This takes the total Saudi production cuts…
By Aaron Wudrick and Franco Terrazzano Canadian Taxpayers Federation Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has chosen to make life more expensive for Canadians by increasing the federal carbon tax by 50 per cent amidst the COVID-19 economic and health crisis. Meanwhile, governments around the world are moving in the opposite direction because hiking taxes during a…
Despite claims by some that ‘oil is dead’ and that the sector is heavily subsidized, the evidence suggests otherwise
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre In the ongoing debate over whether Canada’s oil and natural gas industry will or should survive, one argument often advanced is the notion that oil and gas activity in Canada survives only due to massive subsidies from taxpayers. The debate has been fuelled recently by comments from…
With the world beginning to get back on its wheels, a ‘new normal’ is set to emerge. But what will new normal look like – particularly, will crude oil demand ever return to pre-pandemic levels? Our streets are not as empty as they were just a short while ago. Freeway traffic is rising. Prices at…
Canada’s energy sector is facing unprecedented challenges as oil demand collapses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The toll is already visible, with layoffs coming at the worst possible time for families, as companies cut spending and put growth plans on hold in order to survive. In this challenging time, anti-oil activists pour gasoline…
The world oil market seems to be climbing out of the depths. Yet questions linger. And another crude oil price rout could be just around the corner. The price of oil futures contracts could go to zero again, even faster than the May contracts fell, says CNBC’s Jim Cramer. The oil glut is dominating the…