Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image – Page 26

CANADA ELECTION: Western anger was hot before Monday’s election. Now it’s molten – by Rex Murphy (National Post – October 22, 2019)

October 22, 2019

Among the most ludicrous of campaign pitches, and there were so many to choose from, was the latter-day lunacy that if you, the voter, wanted to save the planet, you had to vote Liberal. The hubris in that claim was equal to its idiocy.

Canadian elections are not about the world. It is not ours to save, or (all deference to Greta the Grinch) to destroy. Canadian elections are about Canada, how to make it better, stronger, more healthful and secure for its citizens. They are — or should be — exercises where party leaders refresh our sense of Canada’s aspirations and ideals as a country, a nation.

Above all they should be about making sure the arrangement we have with ourselves — the Confederation — goes through an ever-necessary renewal, answers to contemporary challenges, and continues to secure the peaceful, prosperous and highly successful country that Canada is. Well … a person can dream, can’t he?

Canadian Federal Election: What the Resource Industry Wants – by Scott Tibballs (Resource Investing News – October 20, 2019)

October 21, 2019

https://investingnews.com/

In the lead up to the Canadian federal election on October 21, Canadian politicians have been wearing out their shoe leather by making sales pitches on why they should represent their local ridings in Ottawa, and party leaders have been squaring off in national debates.

Given how much influence government policy has over the resources industry, the Investing News Network (INN) reached out to the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) — three bodies that represent the interests of the resources industry.

Pierre Gratton of MAC focused on a desire for policy stability for the industry, while Ben Brunnen of CAPP talked about the importance of Canada’s role in a global approach to climate policy and the PDAC shared its wish list of priorities for the next Canadian parliament.

OPINION: What if Suncor Energy used Canadian uranium to clean up its oil sands-tainted image? – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – October 19, 2019)

October 21, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Suncor Energy has an image problem that seems incurable. The Alberta oil sands giant produces vast amounts of synthetic crude oil, a product that comes with a rather frightening carbon footprint. As the oil sands expand, Suncor will become an ever-bigger target for climate-change activists and green-tinged politicians.

Even Justin Trudeau, who may or may not survive as prime minster after next week’s election, once said that Canada should “phase out” the oil sands.

What can Suncor do? Here’s a radical idea: Get into uranium. Nobody talks much about uranium anymore. The naturally radioactive metal is associated as much with disaster, because of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, as it is with clean energy.

What’s this election about? The future of Alberta – by Rex Murphy (National Post – October 18, 2019)

October 18, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

If we get a mixed result on Monday, and the price of a coalition is anti-oil commitments, the threat of separatism will gain new life

I think we’re all glad that the suspense over the coveted electoral benediction of Barack Obama is over. It’s been a question that has had many Canadians on “pins and needles” (whatever that strange idiom really means) for weeks. Would it be for Singh, or May, or Bernier, or Scheer? Who could tell?

Or, and this was an outsider’s bet, would it be for the fellow who came to earth on third base, blinded by his self-confessed “white-privileged” existence, with a taste for blackface when he was a mere urchin of 29? Certainly the consensus was that the most highly regarded, even reverenced, progressive in the whole world, would fret a little at tossing the manna of his approval on so déclassé a performer.

But hey, this is politics, and what’s a little boot polish between friends, as long as they are united under the glorious banner of global warming.

Industrial-scale bloodshed: from diamonds to oil – by Igor Kuchma (Asia Times – October 18, 2019)

October 18, 2019

https://www.asiatimes.com/

For a very long time the diamond business was considered one of the bloodiest industries in the world. It caused various civil wars in Africa, murdered thousands if not millions of people, and left the Central African Republic in ruins.

In order to stop the massacre or at least try to reduce it, the United Nations started the Kimberley Process (KP) that imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as “conflict-free” and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade.

According to its official website, the KP has 54 participants, representing 81 countries, with the European Union and its member states counting as a single participant.

It looks like ‘screw the west’ is back in full swing – by Lorne Gunter (Toronto Sun – October 16, 2019)

October 17, 2019

https://torontosun.com/

It’s 1980 all over again. In the federal election that year (the election that returned Pierre Trudeau to power after Joe Clark’s brief national recess), the unofficial motto of the Liberal war room was “Screw the west, we’ll take the rest!”

Given the anti-Alberta, anti-oil rhetoric of the past week from Pierre’s son, Justin, it’s easy to imagine the current Liberals have decided to write off Alberta and most of the rest of the west (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the interior of B.C.) in favour of pandering to voters in Quebec, the Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver in hopes of clinging on to at least a minority.

Back in 1980, the Liberals adopted policies that deliberately targeted the western provinces and their emerging economic power because they knew such policies would be popular in the more heavily populated provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Alberta’s $1-billion Indigenous Opportunities Fund may widen gap between rich and poor First Nations groups – by Geoffrey Morgan (October 15, 2019)

October 16, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

CALGARY – The inspiration for Alberta’s new $1 billion fund for Indigenous business investments came from the successes of real-world First Nations business ventures, but some of those Indigenous groups are warning the provincial government to look closely at the details in their plan to ensure widespread participation in the initiative.

The intent of the recently announced Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corp., a $1-billion fund from the province for Indigenous business investments, is “so good” but the law creating the fund needs to be more focused and some details clarified, said Paul Poscente, CEO and chair of Backwoods Energy Services, an oilfield services company owned by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation west of Edmonton.

“One of the biggest constraints in Indigenous business is access to capital and I think the intent of the fund is to address this but I think they need to be very careful that they’re not going to actually create a wider gap,” said Poscente said, adding that there are a handful of wealthy First Nations communities in the province that will have the business acumen to access the funds.

A Fortune Lies in Canada’s Oil Sands. Many Voters Want to Leave It There – by Kevin Orland and Natalie Obiko Pearson (Bloomberg News – October 16, 2019)

October 16, 2019

“These lands contain the world’s third-largest crude reserves, but
the sticky bitumen extracted needs to be transported to market,
and that means building hugely contentious pipelines. At present,
there just aren’t enough of them for an energy sector that accounts
for a tenth of Canada’s economy and a fifth of its exports.”

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — At the Fish Place diner in Fort McMurray, booths are filled with oil workers in baseball caps and the parking lot is lined with pickup trucks sporting six-foot (1.8 meter) neon safety flags, a hallmark of the mining industry.

Fort McMurray is the regional hub for the oil sands that produce two-thirds of Canada’s crude, a status that puts the city carved out of Alberta’s wilderness at the heart of the Oct. 21 federal election.

Robbie Picard, who heads an oil-sands advocacy group, calls it “the most important election we’ve ever had.” Over a breakfast of eggs and cheese in the diner, Picard said that a second term for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would cause “anxiety, depression and despair” in the city. “I’m terrified for our future,” he said.

Liberals fire up anti-oil rhetoric despite risk to national unity – by Kelly Cryderman (Globe and Mail – October 15, 2019)

October 15, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Liberals have rolled the dice by making anti-oil-industry rhetoric a key part of their election campaign. The messaging has become louder and clearer in the campaign homestretch.

Minutes into the French-language debate last week, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau spoke about standing up to oil interests. Tweets from Liberal candidates have taken aim at pipelines, while other messaging from the Liberals links Conservatives to “dark oil money.”

It’s no surprise that the Liberals have mostly given up on winning seats in Alberta. But the party’s decision to single out an industry that is inextricably linked with the identity of Canada’s main oil-producing province has the potential to be poisonous to postelection national unity.

Indigenous leaders back LNG exports as a way to fight climate change – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – October 10, 2019)

October 10, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Four First Nations in northern British Columbia are banding together to support energy exports as they work to attract economic investment in the region despite opposition from other Indigenous groups.

The elected leaders of the Haisla, Lax Kw’alaams, Metlakatla and Nisga’a signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on balancing their desire for economic growth with backing climate action.

Three of the four leaders unveiled the accord on Wednesday while in Vancouver attending the World Indigenous Business Forum. They presented their pro-resource views amid opposition from other First Nations, including a campaign led by eight Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who have been vocal in fighting against energy exports from the West Coast.

How Saudi attacks could be the spark global investors need to return to Canada’s oilpatch – by Geoffrey Morgan (Financial Post – September 25, 2019)

September 30, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

Sure we have regulatory headaches, but they pale in comparison to the turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney could not have timed his trip to New York to glad-hand with major American bankers and investment managers any better.

Kenney spent three days in mid-September taxiing around Midtown Manhattan to pump up Alberta’s oil industry at 13 meetings with major funds such as private-equity giant Riverstone Holdings LLC and events organized by finance boutiques Peters & Co. Ltd. and AltaCorp Capital Inc.

The trip, which was booked well ahead of time, occurred while the world was in turmoil following high-precision missile attacks on Abqaiq, the world’s largest oil-processing facility and one that handles 60 per cent of Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s production (better known as Saudi Aramco).

Canada simply can’t have an adult conversation about oil and climate – by Kelly McParland (National Post – September 26, 2019)

September 30, 2019

https://nationalpost.com/

The climate debate is failing in Canada because it isn’t realistic. We’re a big country shackled by small thinking. We lack leadership, judgment and nerve

Is anything more convoluted and contradictory than the politics of oil? Or more bizarre than our refusal to face it?

Consider this: Canada has the ability to get off imported oil. We produce about twice as much each day as we use. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to ensure that, as Green party leader Elizabeth May suggests: “As long as we are using fossil fuels we should be using our fossil fuels.”

Self-sufficiency would have real environmental and economic benefits. It would ensure security of supply, and bring all production under domestic regulation. We can’t control how Saudi Arabia, Nigeria or Venezuela handle their production, but an all-Canadian market would ensure every barrel had to meet domestic environmental standards.

Opinion: Perception is not reality: Canada’s energy sector is best in the world – by Mac Van Wielingen (Calagary Herald – September 21, 2019)

September 23, 2019

https://calgaryherald.com/

Canada’s energy sector is world-leading in scale and capabilities, but it has been progressively hampered by political, legal and regulatory processes and hostile activism. There’s no justification for the damage we have done to ourselves. The common explanations come wrapped in concern and criticism about our energy sector’s environmental, social and governance standards.

The problem is not what most believe. We are arguably “best in the world” for our standards and performance. Nor is the problem that the industry denies climate change. The problem is misinformation and misunderstanding, the failure to grasp actual realities, the unwillingness to collaborate and a lack of visionary leadership.

The energy and climate vision we are now pursuing may “feel good” for some Canadians and create electoral gains for some political leaders, but the impact on global emissions and climate risk may be insignificant or even adverse.

Inquiry into foreign funding of anti-Alberta energy campaigns could shake up enviro charities – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – September 18, 2019)

September 18, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

In a drive-by take-down editorial this past weekend, the Globe and Mail blasted Alberta’s public inquiry into foreign funding of anti-Alberta energy campaigns. The editorial had few facts on hand to support its claims, but it let loose with a series of cheap shots, glib commentary and a conclusion that fell back on an ancient tribal chant: “For Alberta to create a public inquiry to go after critics is a McCarthyesque misuse of power.”

Ah, McCarthyism, the old ideological cushion of the lazy lefty — although most Canadians under the age of 50 would have to Google it.

Alberta’s inquiry into the foreign funding of Canada’s green anti-oil activist groups is headed by Steve Allan, by all accounts a solid and objective forensic accountant who is as far from being Joe McCarthy as Mr. Rogers is from being Donald Trump.

OPINION: The oil geo-political risk premium that should never have disappeared is suddenly back – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2019)

September 17, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The weekend attack on an enormous Saudi crude oil-processing plant reintroduces a key factor – a geopolitical risk premium – that had largely disappeared from the price. The premium could remain permanent if any next attack were to take out a giant oil field. This one did not.

The skillful attack on the Abqaiq plant, which prepares crude for delivery in pipelines by removing its sulphur and other guck, and the nearby Khurais oil field put the vulnerability of Saudi oil infrastructure on full and instant display.

Drones, or possibly cruise missiles, hit several big tanks at Abqaiq and other equipment, sending clouds of black smoke billowing upward. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen took credit for the damage, though U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, without supporting his claim with evidence, placed the blame squarely on Iran even though some reports said the attacks may have come from Iraq or from within Saudi Arabia.