Alberta

Canadian provincial governments have moved to shield customers in four major regions from increased costs associated with federal greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction policies that had previously fallen between the cracks. The moves by Alberta, Ontario. Nova Scotia and Quebec tackle a gap left by the carbon tax, a cornerstone of Canada’s GHG reduction policy. The…

Replacing natural gas with hydrogen could cause “rate shock” for consumers in the absence of new incentives or subsidies to offset the costs of blending it into the gas system, according to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). “The Alberta government may want to consider supports for customers such as credits, tax rebates or subsidies,” an…

Canadian energy powerhouse Alberta plans to pay down government debt and cut income tax rates if a predicted windfall in oil and natural gas royalty revenue pans out, provincial officials said last week. Assuming oil and gas prices remain at current levels through the province’s fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2023, a new government…

Increased prices for liquids-rich oil and natural gas production from Alberta and British Columbia, along with four corporate takeovers, fueled a solid second quarter for Calgary’s Spartan Delta Corp. The independent put together a bundle of energy-rich properties from dealmaking in Western Canada that enriched the bottom line during 2Q2022.  Spartan, which reports in Canadian…

Calgary-based Imperial Oil Ltd. plans to use proceeds from high oil prices it realized during 2Q2022 to return more cash to shareholders and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; goals echoed by its Canadian peers. The management teams of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL), Cenovus Energy Inc., Imperial and Suncor Energy Inc. each held recent conference…

Driven by upstream activity tied to LNG export projects, production of natural gas liquids (NGL) in the gassy Montney Shale has seen a recent boost, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).  In its latest analysis of Canada’s energy commodities, EIA projected the country’s oil production to grow this year and into 2023.  Factors…

High oil and natural gas prices prompted the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to more than double, to C$4.2 billion ($3.36 billion), its order to producers to close and safely seal inactive wells over the next five years. “These increases ensure closure activity is prioritized by companies developing energy in Alberta,” said AER President Laurie Pushor.…

A six-year streak of provincial budget deficits in Alberta ended in 2021 thanks to higher oil and natural gas prices that drove a five-fold increase by government royalties, according to an annual treasury review. In the Alberta provincial treasury annual review for the year ended March 31, 2022, Finance Minister Jason Nixon reported record royalties…

The search for lithium, a key ingredient used to build batteries for electric vehicles, is underway by Imperial Oil Ltd. and E3 Lithium, which are piloting an Alberta development in a well first drilled by the Calgary producer in 1947. Imperial, majority owned by ExxonMobil, said Thursday the C$6.35 million ($5 million) investment in Calgary-based…