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Calgary & Alberta Economy

Interesting. I wonder if things will start rolling now?
Pipeline is already under construction and work on pump stations in BC will start very soon this spring. Keystone XL is restarting construction in Feb...oil and gas companies are already welcoming the news and more drilling rigs were added last week, the most since 2015.
 
Good to see the industry getting a lift. Ultimately I'd like to see the industry pick up to the point where they're at least not laying off anymore people, and even hiring again, but I don't think another crazy oil boom would be good. We need to ween ourselves off the oil industry eventually.
 
Yeah! And Calgary is getting noticed more. Big companies think that it's hard to find the needed talent in Calgary but that's changing. This is an interesting article from the Seattle times about the rising of Calgary and how big tech needs to add it to their list for future expansions.
"Though Seattle with Microsoft and Amazon and Vancouver with the overflow of these and related industries from Seattle, and Portland with Nike and its health science cluster are further along in the transformation, Calgary is on the same path, gaining speed"
 

This is going to be the ultimate test of whether Trudeau supports the oil sands at all. However, approval would be contrary to what Trudeau said in 2017 ... 'we need to phase out the oil sands'.... not realizing how damaging that was to the O&G industry at the time. Did he not know that this project was well down the path? If not he should have.
He has got one more month to 'mull it over' but I am guessing he already knows how he is going to rule or .... he will just kick it down the road because that is the easiest thing to do. This project is not just about job creation. It is about expansion of the oil sands and would send a very positive message to the business world and investment community.

Teck Frontier has gone through several years of regulatory and environmental scrutiny. It also has the support of first nations bands. What could be the rational reasons for not approving it?? If the Liberals rule against, I think we know what statement that would make to Canadians and the rest of the world.

Update: In response to Jason Kenney, the Minister of the Environment just said that a decision on the project could be delayed beyond February 29th ... in other words ... they don't want to make a decision.
Where is the urgency you say??? Consultation on the project and the environmental assessment started 10 years ago. Even if the project started construction this year, oil production would not start until 2026. I guess 10 years is just not enough time to green light a project that would be economically beneficial to the country. Ditto for pipelines.
Is it any wonder why Canada is falling behind other countries in terms of economic growth, productivity, attractive business environment etc?
 
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"... in other words ... they don't want to make a decision. "

there is also judicial precedent that acting fast shows that cabinet was unable to fulfill the duty to consult (they may have consulted, but there was no way that cabinet could have understood the impacts on FNMI rights enough to exercise the crown's duty). And yeah, they will either approve it, not approve it, or order more consultation.

And there are lots of fully approved projects that are not going ahead right now due to low prices. Having one more project approved and not going ahead due to low prices will send no signal.
 
"... in other words ... they don't want to make a decision. "

there is also judicial precedent that acting fast shows that cabinet was unable to fulfill the duty to consult (they may have consulted, but there was no way that cabinet could have understood the impacts on FNMI rights enough to exercise the crown's duty). And yeah, they will either approve it, not approve it, or order more consultation.

And there are lots of fully approved projects that are not going ahead right now due to low prices. Having one more project approved and not going ahead due to low prices will send no signal.
No approved projects of this scale that I am aware of. Teck has not signaled that they plan to sit on this project once approval is gained. If production is not forecasted to start until 2026, then why wouldn't they start construction? There is a very good chance that prices will recover to $70+ by then.
 
No approved projects of this scale that I am aware of. Teck has not signaled that they plan to sit on this project once approval is gained. If production is not forecasted to start until 2026, then why wouldn't they start construction? There is a very good chance that prices will recover to $70+ by then.
Today:
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Hah hah. The very day I make that comment about Teck, they prove me wrong. Reading further into this, it is obvious that they do not want to go it alone and need another significant investor/partner. Hell, there is no way of knowing what the price of oil is going to be next year, let alone 6 years from now. $75/barrel now does not mean the same in 2026. Conversely $50/barrel now could be $75-$100 then. Price of oil has been on a roller coaster for the past two decades. Price and additional pipeline capacity will to have to be a leap of faith for every company making significant capital expenditures going forward.
To me, this still boils down to a sign of confidence from the federal government. Are you in support of getting major energy projects not just approved but completed in a reasonable period of time??? Ten years is not a reasonable period of time to me. Now that is not entirely the fault of the current government .... just government in general. And now this .....
 
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Silicon Valley start-up accelerator setting up a chapter in Calgary. This is exactly the type of program we need to help our tech industry to grow.

 

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