Nov
20
Backtracking on the Royalties
Filed Under Alberta, Oil Sands | Leave a Comment
So it appears that the Alberta Government is going to relax the royalties and taxes on the oil industry… This is a good thing, and hopefully will help the economy and the industry be more competitive in this market place…
Premier Ed Stelmach announced a new five-year plan that lets producers pay less than the rates set in next year’s revamped royalty regime, a move that affects thousands of conventional oil and gas wells.
In making the surprise announcement, the premier said this change is needed to shake off the effects of a slowdown in Alberta drilling and the global economic crisis.
He argued extra tinkering to the province’s royalty framework — announced with much fanfare in October 2007 — will help spur drilling of new wells between 1,000 and 3,500 metres deep.
“The world has changed in recent months and we must respond. We must be competitive, so we’re making this change to encourage new activity in the oilpatch,” Stelmach said.
“This is all about accessing risk capital and ensuring that the jobs are maintained here in the province of Alberta.”
Click on the Article Photo to read more…
Oct
17
Smaller Oil Producers may Sell Out
Filed Under News Articles, Oil Exports, Oil Sands | Leave a Comment
Right now with some economic uncertainty, some smaller players in the oil industry may look at selling vs. pushing through this time. We may see take-overs starting to happen more frequently in the months ahead. Some of these companies who would rely on outside investment and capital to run their business, might need to look for funds elsewhere.
But overall, Canada’s oilpatch comes out of the market meltdown relatively unscathed with the exception of some battered share prices.
That’s because the industry has traditionally relied on internally generated cash flows to fund growth.
Hal Kvisle, president of pipeline giant TransCanada Corp. said “If you go back to the start of my time in this job, we were generating about $1 billion a year in cash flow, of which the first $400 million went to the payment of debt. Now we generate $3 billion and the first $700 million or $800 million goes to the payment of a dividend, so we have five or six times as much available financial strength.”
There is a ton of money in the larger companies right now. The revenue they have generated over the last couple of years, plus having majority of budgets based on the $70-$90 per barrel price, they will be able to weather the economic uncertainties in the coming months.
Oct
15
Oil Country Boom Ain’t Over…
Filed Under Alberta, Education, Mexico, News Articles, Oil Exports, Oil Sands, World News | Leave a Comment
Jeff Rubin has a simple message for Albertans worried about plunging oil prices: CHILL OUT!
This was the opening line of a great newspaper article posted in Vancouer Sun on Sept. 20, 2008. The odd thing about this, is that the articles that talk about the positive things this economy are brining are found tucked away in papers… prime example, this was on page I6 !
Here is what it had to say…
But for Canadians, the key tidbits are that the U.S., our primary export market, is going to become even more dependent on us. Not only is their ability to supply their own demands diminishing as well-known basins such as the Gulf Coast begin to show diminishing returns, but projected replacement supplies from places such as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve are decades away from becoming a reality.
At the same time, other key U.S. suppliers such as Mexico and Venezuela have, to put it politely,
issues. Within the next four or five years, for example, Rubin predicts Mexico “will no longer be exporting oil to the United States.” As for America’s relationship with Venezuela, suffice to say it’s not likely to improve so long as strongman Hugo Chavez is calling the shots — and there is no reason to believe that is about to change anytime soon. What does it all mean? Good things for the oilpatch by and large. Without a doubt, demand for production from the oilsands will continue to grow in the United States and elsewhere — even if, as a result of the credit crunch that is sure to follow this week’s machinations in the investment-banking world, some projects are temporarily shelved.
And in triple-digit prices, conventional explorers will also be chomping at bit, so to speak, to find more oil. Which is why - as difficult as it may be - we need to be sanguine about what lies ahead for the oilpatch.
BOTTOM LINE . . .
We Canada, provide USA our southern friends, SECURITY in the future…
Jul
18
Does Canada Have the Dirtiest Oil?
Filed Under Oil Sands | Leave a Comment
Would love to hear your comments on if Canada’s Oil is the dirtiest? What do you think?
Feb
6
Alberta’s Been on a Wild Ride…
Filed Under Oil Sands, Real Estate General, Special Reports | 1 Comment
If you haven’t noticed, Alberta’s real estate market and job market has been lately on a wild ride. Todd Hirsch, senior economist for ATB Financial was quoted in The Calgary Sun saying
“there are no ‘dire signals’ Alberta’s economy is in danger of running out of gas, or crashing. The speed of growth might be slower, but the signs point to more sustainable growth in 2008. It’s been a wild ride for the past few years, but a chance to take a breath - and catch up with runaway growth - should not necessarily be considered a bad thing”
He also compared “the ride we’ve been enjoying to a high speed cruise down the autobahn. When you have become accustomed to moving at 130 km/h, a deceleration to 80 km/h is very noticeable”
“Canadian energy giants such as EnCana, PetroCan and Husky plan to expand their oilsands operations and big international oil companies are manoeuvring to increase their stake. That’s not surprising when you consider the area is believed to contain some 175-billion barrels of oil, second only to Saudi Arabia’s reserves”
It appears that the Alberta market isn’t going to crash, but is rather taking a well deserved breath. The growth and increase can’t continue on like it has… that’s unsustainable. Just last week, Suncor sets to expand another $21 Billion just a day after it said that it would pay higher royalties to the Alberta government. I think we might still have a ways to go…
Jared Chamberlain
jared@tcgroup.ca
www.ChamberlainGroup.ca
Nov
27
The World Isn’t Over…
Filed Under Oil Sands, Real Estate General | Leave a Comment
I was reading some articles online today, and I like to look for the “good” articles. These days there is so much doom and gloom…
In the Calgary Herald I found an article titled…
Petrobank reveals plans for oilsands plant:
Whitesands gets provincial boost worth $10 million
This in turn effects the Real Estate market in Calgary and Alberta. There are still players in the oilsands wanting to come to Alberta, dispite the Royalty hikes!
This new plant and company, Whitesands development, promises to use ease the burden of getting our black gold by using:
- Less Water
- Less carbon-dioxide emissions
This market isn’t over… and we will have many years of prosperity in Alberta.
If you have any comments or thoughts on this, I would encourage some discussion…
To read the full article CLICK HERE!
Jared Chamberlain
www.ChamberlainGroup.ca
Email Me!
The Chamberlain Group
