August 2011 Alberta Economic Fundamentals
- Thread starter Ally
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Improved job prospects in Calgary
Finding a job in Calgary is getting much easier.
The Conference Board of Canada says near-term employment prospects are up in 21 of 27 census metropolitan areas including Calgary.
The "help wanted index" is also showing more job gains are on the way.
The Conference Board report also points out the ratio of the number of unemployed workers to the number of job openings is low in Calgary...meaning the chances of finding a job are also high.
Read the full article here.
Finding a job in Calgary is getting much easier.
The Conference Board of Canada says near-term employment prospects are up in 21 of 27 census metropolitan areas including Calgary.
The "help wanted index" is also showing more job gains are on the way.
The Conference Board report also points out the ratio of the number of unemployed workers to the number of job openings is low in Calgary...meaning the chances of finding a job are also high.
Read the full article here.
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Alberta auto insurance rates frozen, but electricity rate to jump 26%
While Albertans got a break Thursday with an auto insurance rate freeze, consumers should brace for a wallop in the wallet as power prices are poised to jump nearly $20 a month per household in the next few days.
The 26 per cent spike next month to regulated power is the highest jump in electricity rates in Alberta's market.
Longtime critics of deregulation are not surprised by the projected hike, said to be driven by power plant outages, growing demand for electricity as the economy recovers, and a 10-day planned outage of the tie-line between British Columbia and Alberta at the end of August.
Read the full article here.
While Albertans got a break Thursday with an auto insurance rate freeze, consumers should brace for a wallop in the wallet as power prices are poised to jump nearly $20 a month per household in the next few days.
The 26 per cent spike next month to regulated power is the highest jump in electricity rates in Alberta's market.
Longtime critics of deregulation are not surprised by the projected hike, said to be driven by power plant outages, growing demand for electricity as the economy recovers, and a 10-day planned outage of the tie-line between British Columbia and Alberta at the end of August.
Read the full article here.
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Alberta could escape effects of U.S. debt crisis unscathed, experts say
CALGARY ` Alberta`s economy is expected to come out unscathed as the U.S. debt ceiling decision goes down to the wire, say local experts.
But in the unlikely case that the U.S. defaults, there could be huge implications for the energy sector ` a major driver for Alberta`s economy.
"Unless a worst-case scenario emerges, the debt crisis is not going to make the U.S. economy recovery falter in any meaningful sense," said Frank Atkins, professor of economics at the University of Calgary.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Alberta`s economy is expected to come out unscathed as the U.S. debt ceiling decision goes down to the wire, say local experts.
But in the unlikely case that the U.S. defaults, there could be huge implications for the energy sector ` a major driver for Alberta`s economy.
"Unless a worst-case scenario emerges, the debt crisis is not going to make the U.S. economy recovery falter in any meaningful sense," said Frank Atkins, professor of economics at the University of Calgary.
Read the full article here.
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Picking up the pace in Alberta's oilsands
FORT MCMURRAY - It was the first oilsands tour in memory where iconic giant mining trucks didn't hog the spotlight.
And where imposing bitumen extraction, processing and upgrading facilities were relegated to footnote status.
The unprecedented star of the show organized for journalists this week by a team of oilsands mining companies was tailings - the sand, silt, water, clay, residual oil and other substances left after bitumen is extracted and stored in man-made lakes.
Read the full article here.
FORT MCMURRAY - It was the first oilsands tour in memory where iconic giant mining trucks didn't hog the spotlight.
And where imposing bitumen extraction, processing and upgrading facilities were relegated to footnote status.
The unprecedented star of the show organized for journalists this week by a team of oilsands mining companies was tailings - the sand, silt, water, clay, residual oil and other substances left after bitumen is extracted and stored in man-made lakes.
Read the full article here.
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The oil-diamond analogy
Its rhetoric is crude, and its visuals derivative (of the artist Barbara Kruger), but EthicalOil.org's campaign is an effective and overdue response to the grossly distorted slurs used by some environmental groups to attack the oil-sands industry in Alberta.
Former federal Conservative political staffer Alykhan Velshi is driving the campaign, which characterizes oil flowing from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran as `conflict oil` ` a riff on conflict diamonds ` that is used to prop up dictatorship, funds terrorism and results in persecution. In contrast, Canada's `ethical oil` fuels democracy, funds peacekeeping and is an economic underpinning of a society that embraces tolerance, such as gay pride. As Mr. Velshi explains, `When people buy coffee, they want to buy fair-trade coffee. This is a similar sort of idea.`
Read the full article here.
Its rhetoric is crude, and its visuals derivative (of the artist Barbara Kruger), but EthicalOil.org's campaign is an effective and overdue response to the grossly distorted slurs used by some environmental groups to attack the oil-sands industry in Alberta.
Former federal Conservative political staffer Alykhan Velshi is driving the campaign, which characterizes oil flowing from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran as `conflict oil` ` a riff on conflict diamonds ` that is used to prop up dictatorship, funds terrorism and results in persecution. In contrast, Canada's `ethical oil` fuels democracy, funds peacekeeping and is an economic underpinning of a society that embraces tolerance, such as gay pride. As Mr. Velshi explains, `When people buy coffee, they want to buy fair-trade coffee. This is a similar sort of idea.`
Read the full article here.
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Tories defend drilling stimulus
Despite Alberta Federation of Labour claims the province blew $2.9 billion on drilling incentive programs that failed to create jobs or investment in the oilpatch, the Conservatives vying to be the next leader continue to support them.
All six candidates for the premier's job say the twoyear incentive program that expired in March kept Albertans working in the oilpatch and in service industries when the recession hit in 2008. They suggest if Alberta found itself in similar circumstances under their leadership, they might announce a similar program in a bid to rejuvenate oil and gas exploration.
Read the full article here.
Despite Alberta Federation of Labour claims the province blew $2.9 billion on drilling incentive programs that failed to create jobs or investment in the oilpatch, the Conservatives vying to be the next leader continue to support them.
All six candidates for the premier's job say the twoyear incentive program that expired in March kept Albertans working in the oilpatch and in service industries when the recession hit in 2008. They suggest if Alberta found itself in similar circumstances under their leadership, they might announce a similar program in a bid to rejuvenate oil and gas exploration.
Read the full article here.
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Calgary to escape price correction
Calgary is on course to see steady, albeit gradual, appreciation ahead of a looming price correction that threatens to push the national average down by more than 10% over the next two years.
TD Economics has forecasted that the national average resale price will drop 10.2% over 2012 and 2013. But it looks like Calgary will escape this downward trend largely because it's already gone through much of its correction.
TD Economics predicts the city's average price will rise to $405,800 in 2012, up from $403,700 in 2011. And by 2013, TD economics projects the average price will reach $410,500.
Read the full article here.
Calgary is on course to see steady, albeit gradual, appreciation ahead of a looming price correction that threatens to push the national average down by more than 10% over the next two years.
TD Economics has forecasted that the national average resale price will drop 10.2% over 2012 and 2013. But it looks like Calgary will escape this downward trend largely because it's already gone through much of its correction.
TD Economics predicts the city's average price will rise to $405,800 in 2012, up from $403,700 in 2011. And by 2013, TD economics projects the average price will reach $410,500.
Read the full article here.
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Canadian Natural ups oil sands spending after outage
CALGARY, Alberta, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO) is poised to restart its oil sands plant seven months after it went up in flames, and has earmarked C$2 billion ($2.1 billion) to begin its expansion next year, the country's biggest independent oil explorer said on Thursday.
Canadian Natural, while reporting a better-than-expected 43 percent rise in second-quarter profit, said it began starting up the repaired units at its Horizon oil sands upgrader in northern Alberta this week, giving comfort to investors who had been worried about another delay.
The company was forced to push back its initial restart plans by about a month after smoke from wildfires that swept northern Alberta in the spring kept workers from the site, hampering productivity.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY, Alberta, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO) is poised to restart its oil sands plant seven months after it went up in flames, and has earmarked C$2 billion ($2.1 billion) to begin its expansion next year, the country's biggest independent oil explorer said on Thursday.
Canadian Natural, while reporting a better-than-expected 43 percent rise in second-quarter profit, said it began starting up the repaired units at its Horizon oil sands upgrader in northern Alberta this week, giving comfort to investors who had been worried about another delay.
The company was forced to push back its initial restart plans by about a month after smoke from wildfires that swept northern Alberta in the spring kept workers from the site, hampering productivity.
Read the full article here.
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University students face tough housing search in tight Calgary rental market
CALGARY ` Small rooms, bug-infested cupboards and dirty roommates may all be the rituals of university life. But this year, a low vacancy rate and one of the highest average monthly rents in the country means students will be facing an especially daunting search for housing come Labour Day.
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. statistics, Calgary`s vacancy rate in April was 3.4 per cent, a drop from 5.3 per cent a year previous. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment now stands at $1,040 per month, more than 20 per cent higher than the national average, according to Matt McMillan, the vice-president external with the University of Calgary`s student union.
`This year, we see that vacancy rates have been cut in half and costs are through the roof,` he said. This means more students will be making unkind compromises, choosing apartments with fewer amenities in dodgier locations.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Small rooms, bug-infested cupboards and dirty roommates may all be the rituals of university life. But this year, a low vacancy rate and one of the highest average monthly rents in the country means students will be facing an especially daunting search for housing come Labour Day.
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. statistics, Calgary`s vacancy rate in April was 3.4 per cent, a drop from 5.3 per cent a year previous. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment now stands at $1,040 per month, more than 20 per cent higher than the national average, according to Matt McMillan, the vice-president external with the University of Calgary`s student union.
`This year, we see that vacancy rates have been cut in half and costs are through the roof,` he said. This means more students will be making unkind compromises, choosing apartments with fewer amenities in dodgier locations.
Read the full article here.
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CIBC: Alberta land sale to reveal Canada's next sizeable resource play
Aug. 24 is sure to be a big day, according to CIBC World Markets.
The Alberta land sale is poised be among the largest - if not the No. 1 - on record and reveal just how badly oil and gas companies want land positions in the emerging Duvernay shale gas play, research analyst Jeremy Kaliel said in an interview.
`It could be the biggest one we've seen this year,` Kaliel said of the end-of-month oil and gas drilling rights auction, which will offer up more than 285,000 hectares of land.
If Kaliel is right, the provincial government would bring in more than the record $842 million it netted on an auction at the beginning of June on drilling rights for 271,000 hectares - much of which is said to be targeting deep formations in central Alberta, largely the Duvernay.
Read the full article here.
Aug. 24 is sure to be a big day, according to CIBC World Markets.
The Alberta land sale is poised be among the largest - if not the No. 1 - on record and reveal just how badly oil and gas companies want land positions in the emerging Duvernay shale gas play, research analyst Jeremy Kaliel said in an interview.
`It could be the biggest one we've seen this year,` Kaliel said of the end-of-month oil and gas drilling rights auction, which will offer up more than 285,000 hectares of land.
If Kaliel is right, the provincial government would bring in more than the record $842 million it netted on an auction at the beginning of June on drilling rights for 271,000 hectares - much of which is said to be targeting deep formations in central Alberta, largely the Duvernay.
Read the full article here.
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U.S. reliance on oil imports falls
The United States was so dependent on foreign oil that by 2008 it imported two-thirds of what the country's refineries needed to produce enough gasoline, diesel and the other petroleum products to meet the country's needs.
But recently the federal Energy Information Administration reported that in 2010 imports had fallen far more than many realized ` to 49 percent of the country's needs.
What happened?
Part of the big drop resulted from the federal agency's using a different measurement ` net petroleum imports ` widely viewed as a more accurate way to judge overall dependence on foreign petroleum. The figure counts imports of crude oil and of refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel, but it also subtracts exports of U.S. petroleum products, which have been growing.
Read the full article here.
The United States was so dependent on foreign oil that by 2008 it imported two-thirds of what the country's refineries needed to produce enough gasoline, diesel and the other petroleum products to meet the country's needs.
But recently the federal Energy Information Administration reported that in 2010 imports had fallen far more than many realized ` to 49 percent of the country's needs.
What happened?
Part of the big drop resulted from the federal agency's using a different measurement ` net petroleum imports ` widely viewed as a more accurate way to judge overall dependence on foreign petroleum. The figure counts imports of crude oil and of refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel, but it also subtracts exports of U.S. petroleum products, which have been growing.
Read the full article here.
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Ethical oil campaign aims to silence critics
When rational arguments and facts don`t work, sometimes you need to deliver a visual baseball bat to the head.
That`s what Alykhan Velshi has created: seven grand-slam hits to knock some sense into the craniums of critics of the single greatest wealth and jobs generator in the country, Canada`s oil and gas industry.
Velshi, a lawyer and a former communications director for federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, has just taken over EthicalOil.org from his friend, Ezra Levant, the author of the book Ethical Oil.
Read the full article here.
When rational arguments and facts don`t work, sometimes you need to deliver a visual baseball bat to the head.
That`s what Alykhan Velshi has created: seven grand-slam hits to knock some sense into the craniums of critics of the single greatest wealth and jobs generator in the country, Canada`s oil and gas industry.
Velshi, a lawyer and a former communications director for federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, has just taken over EthicalOil.org from his friend, Ezra Levant, the author of the book Ethical Oil.
Read the full article here.
- Joined
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Alberta churns out 12,000 jobs in July, beating national average: StatsCan
CALGARY ` Employment in Alberta rose by 12,000 in July, the third consecutive monthly increase, Statistics Canadahttp://http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110805/dq110805a-eng.htm reported Friday.
Employment in the province is now 3.8 per cent higher than 12 months earlier, the highest growth rate of all provinces and higher than the national average of 1.5 per cent.
Alberta`s unemployment rate in July was 5.5 per cent, second only to Saskatchewan at 4.9 per cent. The national rate fell to 7.2 per cent in July from 7.4 per cent per cent in June as fewer people sought work.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Employment in Alberta rose by 12,000 in July, the third consecutive monthly increase, Statistics Canadahttp://http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110805/dq110805a-eng.htm reported Friday.
Employment in the province is now 3.8 per cent higher than 12 months earlier, the highest growth rate of all provinces and higher than the national average of 1.5 per cent.
Alberta`s unemployment rate in July was 5.5 per cent, second only to Saskatchewan at 4.9 per cent. The national rate fell to 7.2 per cent in July from 7.4 per cent per cent in June as fewer people sought work.
Read the full article here.
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Flurry of office leasing activity for downtown Calgary
Calgary`s downtown office market experienced a flurry of leasing activity in the second quarter of this year, recording the largest ever level of absorption of space for a single quarter, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers International.
A report by the company said the city`s downtown office tenants continue to absorb office space at an accelerated rate and those still looking for quality space in new buildings may have missed the opportunity for now.
Nearly 1.2 million square feet was absorbed in the second quarter alone ` the largest ever for a quarter ` and that brought the year-to-date absorption to 1.5 million square feet, almost equal to that for all of 2010.
Read the full article here.
Calgary`s downtown office market experienced a flurry of leasing activity in the second quarter of this year, recording the largest ever level of absorption of space for a single quarter, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers International.
A report by the company said the city`s downtown office tenants continue to absorb office space at an accelerated rate and those still looking for quality space in new buildings may have missed the opportunity for now.
Nearly 1.2 million square feet was absorbed in the second quarter alone ` the largest ever for a quarter ` and that brought the year-to-date absorption to 1.5 million square feet, almost equal to that for all of 2010.
Read the full article here.
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Edmonton land prices and push for affordable starter homes drive density in new neighbourhoods
EDMONTON - Steven Dollansky`s new suburban front yard has just enough space for two wooden recliners, a tomato plant, a pot of overgrown lettuce and a Yorkshire terrier.
The townhouse lawn is the size of a twin mattress. Dollansky drinks coffee out there every morning, and already knows half a dozen neighbours by name since he and partner Kristen Broda moved to Terwillegar six months ago.
Double walls with dead air in-between mean he never hears his neighbours, and they still have a double-car garage in the basement and three good-size bedrooms on the second floor. The townhouse just made sense `when it came down to getting the best value,` said Dollansky, a law student at the University of Alberta.
Read the full article here.
EDMONTON - Steven Dollansky`s new suburban front yard has just enough space for two wooden recliners, a tomato plant, a pot of overgrown lettuce and a Yorkshire terrier.
The townhouse lawn is the size of a twin mattress. Dollansky drinks coffee out there every morning, and already knows half a dozen neighbours by name since he and partner Kristen Broda moved to Terwillegar six months ago.
Double walls with dead air in-between mean he never hears his neighbours, and they still have a double-car garage in the basement and three good-size bedrooms on the second floor. The townhouse just made sense `when it came down to getting the best value,` said Dollansky, a law student at the University of Alberta.
Read the full article here.
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Calgary housing starts on the rise
Short-term and long-term expectations for housing starts in the Calgary region are positive, says the Conference Board of Canada.
In its Metropolitan Monthly Monitors report released Friday, the board said the seasonally-adjusted annual rate for housing starts for the Calgary census metropolitan area was 5,977 units in July.
Jane McIntyre, an economist with the board, said short-term expectations are based on residential permits data while long-term expectations are based on demographic requirements.
She said building permits continue to rise for Calgary.
Read the full article here.
Short-term and long-term expectations for housing starts in the Calgary region are positive, says the Conference Board of Canada.
In its Metropolitan Monthly Monitors report released Friday, the board said the seasonally-adjusted annual rate for housing starts for the Calgary census metropolitan area was 5,977 units in July.
Jane McIntyre, an economist with the board, said short-term expectations are based on residential permits data while long-term expectations are based on demographic requirements.
She said building permits continue to rise for Calgary.
Read the full article here.
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Oil price won't delay new projects
Along with other asset values, oil prices have fallen from their spring peak.
The International Energy Agency suggests that an economic slowdown could even create a glut later this year. Should the next worry be that the pendulum will swing too far, as in early 2009, and that promising development projects will be cancelled?
At the current $85 a barrel for WTI crude (let alone $108 a barrel for Brent) the answer is an emphatic `no.` Almost any plan now under consideration should not only be profitable but hit its economic hurdle rate, according to Citi Futures Perspective.
The price would have to fall to $60 a barrel before there would be cancellations of projects currently on the drawing board in the world`s largest marginal supply source, Canada`s vast oil sands. Go down another $5 to $10 and there would be cuts in Venezuela`s even more bountiful Orinoco Belt. Although the offshore `pre-salt` deposits that are set to come on stream late this decade are technologically challenging, the oil price might have to go below $40 before drilling became uneconomical.
Read the full article here.
Along with other asset values, oil prices have fallen from their spring peak.
The International Energy Agency suggests that an economic slowdown could even create a glut later this year. Should the next worry be that the pendulum will swing too far, as in early 2009, and that promising development projects will be cancelled?
At the current $85 a barrel for WTI crude (let alone $108 a barrel for Brent) the answer is an emphatic `no.` Almost any plan now under consideration should not only be profitable but hit its economic hurdle rate, according to Citi Futures Perspective.
The price would have to fall to $60 a barrel before there would be cancellations of projects currently on the drawing board in the world`s largest marginal supply source, Canada`s vast oil sands. Go down another $5 to $10 and there would be cuts in Venezuela`s even more bountiful Orinoco Belt. Although the offshore `pre-salt` deposits that are set to come on stream late this decade are technologically challenging, the oil price might have to go below $40 before drilling became uneconomical.
Read the full article here.
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Alberta government repeating 1980s missteps
CALGARY, AB`Alberta`s political leaders are repeating the mistakes of the province`s 1980s-era politicians with their `don`t worry` attitude towards Alberta`s deficits and overspending, says a new report released today by the Fraser Institute, Canada`s leading public policy think-tank.
Alberta politicians today are saying the same things and making the same fundamental errors as politicians in the 1980s,` said Mark Milke, Fraser Institute director of Alberta Policy and author of The Rhetoric and the Reality of Alberta`s Deficits in the 1980s, 1990s, and Now.
`History is repeating itself with assumptions that boom-time energy revenues will soon return, and that spending growth will be checked. But such illusions died hard in the 1990s. Now it`s time for Alberta politicians to acknowledge the reality of today`s overspending and institute a legislated plan to balance the budget.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY, AB`Alberta`s political leaders are repeating the mistakes of the province`s 1980s-era politicians with their `don`t worry` attitude towards Alberta`s deficits and overspending, says a new report released today by the Fraser Institute, Canada`s leading public policy think-tank.
Alberta politicians today are saying the same things and making the same fundamental errors as politicians in the 1980s,` said Mark Milke, Fraser Institute director of Alberta Policy and author of The Rhetoric and the Reality of Alberta`s Deficits in the 1980s, 1990s, and Now.
`History is repeating itself with assumptions that boom-time energy revenues will soon return, and that spending growth will be checked. But such illusions died hard in the 1990s. Now it`s time for Alberta politicians to acknowledge the reality of today`s overspending and institute a legislated plan to balance the budget.
Read the full article here.
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Alberta auto sales balloon in June
CALGARY ` Sales of new motor vehicles in Alberta in June rose by the highest year-over-year rate in the country, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported Monday that there were 19,927 new motor vehicle sales in the province in June, up 17.1 per cent from June 2010 and an increase of 10.9 per cent from May.
Across Canada, Statistics Canada said the number of new motor vehicles sold rose 10.8 per cent in June to 141,882 units, more than offsetting losses reported in the previous two months. Sales of passenger cars and trucks contributed equally to the increase. That number was also 8.4 per cent higher than a year ago.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY ` Sales of new motor vehicles in Alberta in June rose by the highest year-over-year rate in the country, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported Monday that there were 19,927 new motor vehicle sales in the province in June, up 17.1 per cent from June 2010 and an increase of 10.9 per cent from May.
Across Canada, Statistics Canada said the number of new motor vehicles sold rose 10.8 per cent in June to 141,882 units, more than offsetting losses reported in the previous two months. Sales of passenger cars and trucks contributed equally to the increase. That number was also 8.4 per cent higher than a year ago.
Read the full article here.