May 2013 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

UK's BG group files $16 billion plan to export LNG from British Columbia




CALGARY ` The U.K.`s BG Group Plc has unveiled plans to export the equivalent of one-quarter of Canada`s current daily natural gas production from a British Columbia terminal starting in 2021. The company, whose Canadian office is in Vancouver, has no reserves nearby.




The contradiction of an exporter with no gas has emerged as energy giants BG, Imperial Oil Ltd., Nexen Inc. and Australia`s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. join the growing queue of companies willing to spend billions on liquefied natural gas projects in order to capture higher prices overseas.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

U.S. in housing recovery, Vancouver showing weakness



A continued rebound in multiple U.S. housing markets as predicted, while Canadian housing markets are likely to endure a `potential lengthy period of price weakness,` according to a May 14 report by capital management firm Pacifica Partners Inc.



The report refers to Vancouver as Canada`s `bubbliest` city, largely because average single-family home sale prices are down 14% from their highs and average condominium prices are close to 2007 levels.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Liberal win in BC may increase pipeline odds




CALGARY, Alberta, May 15 (Reuters) - The surprise re-election of the ruling Liberal party in the Canadian province of British Columbia might give a boost to energy industry plans to build oil pipelines to Canada's Pacific coast, lines the Liberals' opponents had pledged to block.




Although polls had widely forecast a resounding victory for the left-leading New Democratic Party after 12 years of Liberal rule, voters returned the government of Premier Christy Clark to power with a strengthened majority, although Clark lost her own seat to an NDP challenger.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Redford looks for relationship reset with BC premier




EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Alison Redford congratulated British Columbia Premier Christy Clark Wednesday after Clark`s surprise election victory late Tuesday night ` a win that could have long-lasting implications for Alberta`s ability to export oil and for Redford`s own Canadian Energy Strategy.




Clark ran on a platform that promised to develop B.C.`s own resources and during the campaign she told reporters: `We don`t need the federal government and we don`t need Alberta.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

BC took the cue from Bill Clinton: It's the economy, stupid




The results of the British Columbia election tell a number of stories.




The first is that pollsters, having again gotten it so wrong, have lost a lot of credibility and political parties should think twice about whom they hire.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Raw land is where the profit and potential is being seen today across Western Canada




Metro Vancouver saw commercial real estate sales punch above the $5 billion mark for the first time last year - but it was not office towers, industrial buildings or shopping malls that dominated the deals.




It was raw land.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Red-hot Kitimat





A wave of real estate investing in Kitimat could build into a tsunami this year as financing has been secured for the first oil refinery in Western Canada.



Last month a New York investment banker confirmed he has investors lined up to make B.C. press baron David Black's $16 billion oil refinery near Kitimat a reality.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Chilliwack growth 'not by fluke,' says mayor




Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz offered a rosy picture of Chilliwack in her 'State of the City' talk Thursday at a Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce luncheon in the Best Western Rainbow Country Inn.










Economists had predicted the economy "would be very grim" in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Port Mann express bus drives development around transit exchange site




Langley Township is considering redeveloping the area around the Carvolth park-and-ride bus exchange because of the popularity of the No. 555 Port Mann Bridge express bus.




Mayor Jack Froese said the township is proposing a mixed commercial and residential development around the transit exchange at 86th Avenue and 202nd to create a "transit village" for the area.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

UK's BG Group files $16 billion plan to export LNG from British Columbia




CALGARY ` The U.K.`s BG Group Plc has unveiled plans to export the equivalent of one-quarter of Canada`s current daily natural gas production from a British Columbia terminal starting in 2021. The company, whose Canadian office is in Vancouver, has no reserves nearby.




The contradiction of an exporter with no gas has emerged as energy giants BG, Imperial Oil Ltd., Nexen Inc. and Australia`s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. join the growing queue of companies willing to spend billions on liquefied natural gas projects in order to capture higher prices overseas.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Big rent spikes in Vancouver force businesses to close




Little Nest, a popular eatery off Commercial Drive, is closing its doors in July after rent for the space increased by more than 100 per cent since it opened in 2007.




Owner Mary MacIntyre says she used to pay $2,900 a month, but her rent is now $6,500, or $45 per square foot - one of the highest rates in the Commercial Drive area.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

City spending far outpaces population growth





Additional taxes paid by the average Vancouver family of four over the last 12 years because city council did not keep spending to the rate of inflation and population growth, based on a study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Is it a spending problem, a revenue problem, or the cost of meeting public expectations?




It is a familiar refrain, particularly at budget time, for Canadian municipal politicians to complain they can't provide all the services their citizens demand because they don't have enough money.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Tide rising again for rural property investment in BC




A rising tide lifts all boats, and for waterfront properties in B.C. that`s good news.










A recovery of residential real estate markets across the province and the emergence of more patient buyers and sellers are underpinning an upswing in recreational property activity.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

LNG project gets boost from pair of investors




Douglas Channel LNG, a liquefied natural gas project partly owned by the Haisla First Nation, received a boost Thursday when Golar LNG and an unnamed Asian investor announced they had bought a 25 per cent stake in the project.




Golar, a Bermuda-based company that runs a fleet of LNG tankers, said its quarterly financial report released Thursday that its involvement in the project is for a minimum 25 per cent stake and will provide the equity to take the $500 million project through development and execution stages. A final investment decision is expected by the third quarter of 2013.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

BC sets up roadblock to pipeline





EDMONTON - The BC government has set up a major roadblock to a pipeline to the Pacific.



But for those hoping to see Alberta bitumen flow west, not all options are exhausted yet.





Read the full article here.