XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, bc.politics   
   XPost: mtl.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   The Alberta tarsands may have reached their end at expanding.  From here on in,   
   let's hope that more and more companies start shutting down and pulling out of   
   Alberta.   
   If we can't have a Prime Minister that gives a damn about Canada's environment,   
   let's hope that corporate greed for bigger profit lines is what shuts down the   
   tarsands.   
      
   Don't forget the Keystone and Enbridge & Kinder Morgan pipleines, gods . . . .   
   ________________________________________   
      
   CBC News Posted: Oct 20, 2014   
      
      
   Oilpatch faces project cancellations with crude at $82   
      
   As earnings season approaches, analysts weigh investment prospects for next   
   year   
      
      
   The falling price of oil will likely result in a round of project cancellations   
   and disappointing results in the Canadian oilpatch, analysts say.   
      
   As oil companies bring in third quarter earnings, starting toward the end of   
   this week,  they’re facing oil priced at just above $80, down about 20 per   
   cent   
   since June of this year.   
      
        Falling oil prices spell trouble for Canada's oil sands and pipelines   
        Loonie oil prices could fall much further: Don Pittis   
      
   Today West Texas Intermediate oil contracts seem to have stabilized at $82.71   
   US a barrel, down four cents on the day. That’s up from the lows below $80   
   set   
   last week. Western Canada Select, the price received by many Canadian oil   
   producers, is at $69.10.   
      
   “When the price falls to where it is now, certainly a lot of crude oil   
   producers are having a second look at future projects for expanding the   
   oilsands until they see where things shake out,” says Michael Ervin, of   
   petroleum consultancy M.J. Ervin & Assoc.   
      
   “There is going to be some curtailment of some projects that were predicated   
   on   
   a higher price. The fact is there is some projects in Alberta that are very   
   sustainable at a much lower crude oil price, but some that really do require   
   prices at or above $80,” he said in an interview with CBC News.   
      
      
   Oil firms planning for the year   
      
   Total S.A. has already postponed its Joslyn oilsands project, while Statoil put   
   the brakes on a  Kai Kos Dehseh project.   
      
   Stephen Ewart, an energy columnist for the Calgary Herald, agrees lower prices   
   are a problem, but says the drop may be temporary.   
      
        'Obviously Stephen Harper's view of Canada becoming an energy superpower   
   is going up in smoke because these prices aren’t going to allow production to   
   increase'- economist Jeff Rubin   
      
   “In the coming week the third quarter results are coming out and we’ll hear   
   from the oil companies,” he said.   
      
   Husky Energy and Cenovus Energy Inc. are reporting Thursday, with Suncor and   
   Canadian Natural Resources to follow.   
      
   “They’re also making their capital budgets for 2015. This is coming at a   
   time   
   when they’re planning spending for next year and it’s concerning some   
   people,”   
   Ewart said.   
      
   He expects a pullback of about 10 per cent in capital spending next year.   
      
   “I’ve seen reports of capital spending in the oil patch of $66 to $67   
   billion a   
   year, I think that could come off by 10 per cent,” he told CBC News.   
      
   The markets have already responded to the expected slowdown, with the   
   capitalization of energy stocks down sharply.   
      
      
   Are pipelines still viable?   
      
   The problem of getting oil to market still hangs over the oilpatch. Canadian   
   producers get a lower price because of bottlenecks in shipping and refining   
   oil.  The Keystone pipeline project to the U.S. is stalled and pipelines such   
   as Northern Gateway face multiple hurdles.   
      
   Oil at a low of $80 could raise a big question market about pipeline projects,   
   according to Jeff Rubin, former chief economist with CIBC World Markets and   
   author of The End of Growth.   
      
   Pipelines are only economic if the oilpatch steps up production, but at these   
   prices, it’s not likely to, Rubin said.   
      
   That’s because, while Saudi oil is cheap, both U.S. shale and Canadian   
   oilsands   
   crude demand higher prices to be viable.   
      
   “Obviously Stephen Harper's view of Canada becoming an energy superpower is   
   going up in smoke because these prices aren’t going to allow production to   
   increase,” he said.   
      
   Rubin argues the world demand for oil is in long-term decline, both because of   
   increased efficiency and the price increases in crude we’ve seen in the past   
   decade.   
   Break the cycle   
      
   The world economy has slowed, in part, because of the fact that prices have   
   been high, Rubin said.   
      
   “Maybe it’s time to get out of this yo-yo and lessen our dependence on   
   oil,” he   
   said.   
      
   Today's low prices are the result of a glut of oil, as U.S. producers ramp up   
   domestic production and OPEC refuses to scale back. Demand is down because of a   
   dip in economic growth.   
      
   But low oil prices are also a problem for both the Alberta treasury and the   
   Canadian economy.   
      
   “We all know that the oilsands is a major contributor to the Canadian economy   
   and going full throat a year ago, we saw a high Canadian dollar,” Ervin said.   
      
   “That of course created problems in the manufacturing regions of Canada,   
   mainly   
   Ontario.”   
      
   The dollar has fallen as oil prices fell and that could help boost exports and   
   help Canadian manufacturing, he said. But government revenues from oil are   
   going to take a hit.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)