We have to beware tyrannies and autocracies that use oil and natural gas as weapons
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre History shows tyrannies and autocracies use oil and natural gas as weapons when interacting with democracies. This is obvious during wars – tanks and jets don’t run on vegetable oil – as well as peacetime. For example, in 2009, Russia cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine in…
Taxpayers from so-called have provinces can no longer afford to subsidize the Atlantic provinces
For many years, there has been debate about equalization and other transfer programs and their impact on Atlantic Canada and other regions. Much of this discussion has been technical and difficult to follow. The debate has also been misleading because it focused on equalization even though equalization is only about a quarter of the net…
But the good old days are gone
A new reality is dawning: the short-term direction of oil markets is in sharp contrast to its longer-term trajectory. The short-term outlook – courtesy of the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies in OPEC+ to withhold some eight million barrels per day (bpd) from the markets – and the emerging…
Ominous clouds continue to hang over the global oil horizon
Where will world oil markets be in a year? With so many variables impacting the markets, no one has the crystal ball to see the crude oil price trajectory a year ahead. On April 20, 2020, panic had gripped the energy market as a frightening realization dawned on oil traders: The world was rapidly running…
Oil producers face catastrophe if countries worldwide move to limit global warming by two degrees Celsius
Crude oil demand is weak and the fundamental factors aren’t encouraging. Yet, most major oil-producing countries are moving to boost their output levels in the short run. Why? Saudi Arabia is pursuing plans to develop major offshore expansion projects to add an extra 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd) to its oil capacity by 2024,…
The province appeals to mining investors because it’s able to match its relatively strong endowment with competitive policies
By Jairo Yunis and Alex Whalen The Fraser Institute As Newfoundland and Labrador deals with the effects of COVID-19 and recession, good news economic stories appear to be in short supply. However, a recent survey of investors sheds light on the province’s mining potential. Mining plays an important role in the province’s economy and the…
Canada was the only free-country supplier of foreign crude oil to the U.S. between 1993 and 2020
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre Imagine you’re in Germany and wonder if it’s a good idea to rely so heavily on natural gas imports from Russia, where the governing regime is accused by German politicians of killing journalists and the attempted murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. German Chancellor Angela…
To attract the investment required to develop resources, mitigating the risks of policy uncertainly needs to be a top priority
By Jairo Yunis and Elmira Aliakbari The Fraser Institute The COVID recession has hurt Canada’s natural resources sector, with supply disruptions, commodity price declines and greater uncertainty regarding future demand. Not surprisingly, capital investment in the Canadian mining industry has dropped to its lowest level since 2009. Of course, business investment should be a key…
Between 2006 and 2018 the oil and gas sector spent $28.1 billion on environmental protection; ALL other industries combined spent $39.6 billion
By Mark Milke and Ven Venkatachalam Canadian Energy Centre As two people not born in Alberta but who live here now – one of us came from British Columbia and the other from India – we’re constantly amazed at the misinformation about the province and one of Canada’s biggest economic contributors: the oil and gas…
Although the OPEC+ decision resulted in immediate oil price gains, the warning shots on the horizon couldn’t be altogether ignored
Saudi Arabia is leading the pack on crude oil production management. Russia seems to be following. Despite murmurs in the oil market of a possible rift between the two countries on the issue of output, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies in the OPEC+, at their virtual meeting last Thursday, went…