energy

2:00AM
Printer-friendly version

Michael Binnion, CEO of Questerre Energy and head of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association, has a great blog post up in which he discusses the impact that equalization payments have on Quebec's energy and natural resource policy.

Looking at Quebec's budget, Binnion observes:


2:00AM
Printer-friendly version

BC’s governing Liberals presented a Throne Speech recently that included an unexpected announcement: the creation of a BC Prosperity Fund similar in concept to Alberta’s Heritage Fund. BC’s fund is meant to capitalize on the future opportunities from natural gas development. If done correctly, the Prosperity Fund could be a huge benefit to both current and future British Columbians. As with many things though, the devil is in the details.


2:00AM
Printer-friendly version

On November 6, 2012, the citizens of the United States decided to maintain, essentially, the status quo: they re-elected Barack Obama as President, left the United States House of Representatives solidly in Republican hands, and left the United States Senate under the control of the Democratic Party. But as with all U.S. elections, there are implications for Canada, which, for better or worse, is usually pulled by the tides of American regulation and economic prosperity – or the lack thereof.


3:00AM
Printer-friendly version

In the debate over whether the partially state-owned energy company, China’s CNOOC, should be given the go-ahead by Ottawa to take over Calgary-based Nexen, there is the danger that the discussion will be cast in an adversarial east-west context.


2:00AM
Printer-friendly version

The recent decision by the federal government to block a proposed takeover of Progress Energy Resources by Petronas, a Malaysian state-owned company, increases the likelihood of a rejection of the pending acquisition of Nexen by CNOOC, a Chinese state-owned oil company. It also follows the federal government’s action denying the takeover of Potash Corporation by BHP, a privately owned Australian company.  These developments justify reconsideration of whether the net benefit test used by the Canadian government to assess foreign takeovers of Canadian companies makes economic sense.


2:00AM
Printer-friendly version

Following the U.S. government’s delay in approving the much-hyped Keystone XL pipeline, many pundits turned their attention to the possibility of a new pipeline from the oilsands to BC’s west coast that would allow Canada to ship larger amounts of oil to world markets, which currently offer a premium price relative to the U.S. Midwest.