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,…
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 sands extraction declined largely because of shutdowns and maintenance of some production facilities. Crude oil extraction also falls
The natural resources sector in Canada continues to be challenged. A new report released Friday by Statistics Canada said real gross domestic product (GDP) of the natural resources sector fell 2.2 per cent in the third quarter, following a 2.8 per cent rise in the second quarter. The federal agency said the decline was largely…
Alberta produced 18.3 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in October, down 4.9 per cent
Energy production in Canada declined in several sectors in October 2019, compared with the same month in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. The federal agency said production of crude oil and equivalent products (-1.7 per cent), natural gas (-1.3 per cent), and coal (-9.3 per cent), as well as electricity generation (-3.3 per cent) declined…
Imagine you are a public school principal. You need to hire a teacher and you have two applicants who meet the basic job requirements. The first applicant has 10 years of teaching experience and regularly scores outstanding performance reviews. The second has 15 years of experience but receives only satisfactory performance reviews. Which teacher would…
The gig economy is gaining traction, for better or worse. Who needs benefits or job security when you can work on a high wire?
Are you weary of your reliable job? Do your paid vacation, company pension plan and full medical coverage leave you cold? Are you pining for the sort of precarious work that only self-employment can promise? Well, friend, you’ve come to the right place. Here, at GigsRUs, we won’t bore you with bromides about workplace security,…
Despite government hyperbole, small businesses know that innovation is difficult, costly and sometimes reveals unfortunate truths
A handy term that invokes sweet dreams of big scores for small businesses everywhere is ‘innovation.’ Government officials, burdened with the otherwise boring work of economic development, are obsessed with it. Its mere mention, they think, virtually guarantees a contact high. Hey folks, their websites screech, roll up and read all about our “Superclusters Initiative,”…
And StatsCan says exports of crude oil and equivalent products increased in March
Production in all primary energy sectors rose in March compared with a year ago, according to data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. And over the same period, exports of crude oil and equivalent products increased, while exports of natural gas and electricity decreased. The federal agency said production of crude oil and equivalent products rose…
StatsCan study over 66 years provides insight into which provinces experienced the most growth over three generations
Data released Thursday by Statistics Canada may be a couple of years old but it illustrates the importance of the oil and gas sector to the economies of several provinces. “According to a new study, from 1950 to 2016, real gross domestic income (GDI) per capita grew fastest in provinces with large oil and gas…
The hydroelectric project mess in Newfoundland and Labrador requires some hard choices. But taxpayers deserve and need some relief
The citizens and taxpayers of Newfoundland and Labrador received important news late in 2018: an autopsy of the horrific financial debacle at Churchill Falls and the beginning of an inquiry into the questionable new Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project. The long legal battle has ended over the Joey Smallwood era’s unprofitable Churchill Falls contract, which the…