Ultimately – or after the U.S. mid-terms – the animosity will cool down
Oil is addictive. At least for addicts like me. While I took some time off over the last couple of weeks, the oil and energy world passed through major upheavals, with long-term geopolitical consequences. On Sept. 27, three offshore lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline system on the bed of the Baltic Sea sustained…
The transition to a renewables future is not as simple as some people would like
A leading architect of Germany’s “Energiewende” push towards wind and solar over coal, oil, gas and nuclear admits that renewable energy alone is insufficient to maintain reliable supply. The comments by Peter Altmaier, who served as federal minister for economic affairs and energy from 2018 to 2021, come as Germany remains under a natural gas…
A Goldilocks price for oil remains impossible because of geopolitics and macroeconomics
Saudi Arabia has reminded us once again of the power of the world’s largest oil producer. Through Saudi Aramco, a country with only 35 million people controls 11 per cent of global supply. Saudi Arabia can influence global oil prices simply by adjusting output. It has demonstrated this many times. The Saudis also control OPEC,…
Oil is used to make everything from clothing, computers, cell phones, car components and furniture to medical equipment
Environmental activists are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to endorse a dangerous and misguided “fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty” ahead of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. They want Trudeau to tell Canadians and the world that ongoing use of Canada’s oil and gas is an imminent threat to human society as bad as the…
Worshipping at the net-zero altar has led to two dictators controlling both energy security and the supply of manufactured goods
Mark Twain famously said that “Truth is stranger than fiction.” Seldom have those words been more clearly illustrated than by the West’s attempt to rid the world of fossil fuels. In a supreme irony, the location of the first gathering aimed at that goal took place in the country now suffering the worst consequences of…
But Trudeau government's emissions cap threatens future prosperity
A massive milestone has been reached in the growing trend of Indigenous people taking ownership of Canadian oil and gas projects. Twenty-three First Nations and Métis communities in northern Alberta are investing $1.1 billion to become part owners of seven Enbridge oil sands pipelines. It’s described as the largest energy-related Indigenous partnership transaction in North…
Putin's War has lifted the Gulf states out of an almost decade-long economic slump
I am in Abu Dhabi and the glitter is visible – all around. With the oil-based economies of the Gulf’s current high budgetary surpluses, the glitter will only shine brighter. New projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars are being showcased throughout the region, from Saudi Arabia to Qatar and from Abu Dhabi to Kuwait.…
'He does not think beyond the pipeline. He does not think beyond the cause of the day'
American actor Mark Ruffalo took another uninformed swipe at the Coastal GasLink pipeline this week, claiming via Twitter that “the cleanest river in North America is about to be sacrificed to the oil and gas industry” because of project construction. Earlier this year, Ruffalo joined other celebrities to demand that RBC cease funding Coastal GasLink,…
Tens of billions of dollars in wages, contracts and own source revenues are at risk
On July 18, the federal government announced a plan to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector by 42 per cent in just eight years. To meet such targets, this policy would effectively stop all new projects in the oil and gas sector, as well as curtail existing ones. This would dramatically affect global…
Both sectors face inflationary pressures but are being dealt with very differently
As anyone who has ever spent time in the kitchen knows, when a pot is boiling over, you do not put a lid on it. You lower the heat. Adding a cover does nothing to reduce the cause of all the excess bubbles and steam. In fact, increasing the pressure within the vessel generates an…