Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

February 2011 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
News articles for February 2011.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Not the time to nickel and dime





Alberta's fiscal conservatives (are you listening, Ted Morton?) have it all wrong, says the CEO of construction giant PCL.




Instead of obsessing about temporary budget deficits in the only province in Canada that's effectively debt-free, Alberta's politicians should be looking down the road and planning for the future.




If they did, says Paul Douglas, who took over the top job at the Edmonton-based builder 15 months ago, they'd see what he sees.




Namely, a return to the frenzied market conditions of 2007-08, when overheated oilsands construction activity triggered rampant labour shortages, soaring wage rates and multibillion-dollar project cost overruns.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Alberta employment numbers rosier than first thought





Alberta was the only province in the country to experience an upward revision to its employment level in December.




Statistics Canada revealed Friday that it has revised it labour data to reflect 2006 census figures as opposed to using 2001 population data.




And because of that, the employment level in Alberta in December was revised upward by 0.8 per cent to 2,032,200 from the previous number of 2,016,400 ` an increase of 15,800.




But despite the revision, employment in Alberta remains below pre-recession levels.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Alberta aims to speed approvals for energy projects





CALGARY - The Alberta government on Friday took steps to create a single regulator for the oil and gas sector to improve its competitiveness but critics complained the changes come at the expense of the province's environmental and land use policies.




In a move welcomed by industry but criticized by opposition and environmental groups, Energy minister Ron Liepert accepted the report of a task force that recommends combining the regulatory functions of three ministries into a single authority. He also vowed to introduce legislation that could result in an expanded role for the province's oil and gas regulators by spring.




At a media briefing in Calgary, Liepert said it's the largest and most comprehensive overhaul of Alberta's regulatory regime in more than half a century of oil and gas development in the province.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Bitumen upgrading follows NOVA's lead: North West president





EDMONTON ` The Alberta government will be the province`s biggest bitumen producer within two decades as it collects increasing amounts of royalties from oilsands firms, and has started to act like an owner by planning to use that resource to earn the best return, said the president of North West Upgrading.




Ian MacGregor told Alberta`s Industrial Heartland Association`s annual meeting Thursday that the new BRIK (bitumen royalty in kind) program presents the same generational opportunities as the natural gas boom in the 1970s.




`Look at the ethane plants from the Lougheed era (such as the huge NOVA facility in Joffre). They are here because someone didn`t want all the ethane leaving the province, and the same forces are at work today with the oilsands ` the same opportunities for our kids and grandkids,` he said.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Edmonton: Vacant lot a barrier in Avenue's roadmap for revival





EDMONTON ` To Alberta Avenue residents, they are the bleak bookends to the work-in-progress that is 118th Avenue ` a decaying hotel near 82nd Street and a barren rectangle of land along 97th Street.




`We`ve got both entrances to our community with crap on them,` said Karen Mykietka, president of the Alberta Avenue Community League.




Residents and businesses are working to turn 118th Avenue from a troubled strip into a bustling, walkable neighbourhood and the city is working on a long-term plan to upgrade 118th Avenue with improvements that include decorative street lights, trees, benches and flower beds, wider sidewalks, more pedestrian crossings and improved parking.




Yet the boarded-up Cromdale Hotel still stands, despite a demolition order.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Heartland is key to bitumen plan





EDMONTON ` The province's new push for more value-added products from bitumen will start in Alberta's Industrial Heartland, with long-term plans for an integrated cluster of chemical industries, a senior energy official says.




Mike Ekelund, assistant deputy minister, said Friday that "several" proposals have been received for upgrading and refining projects that would use a share of oil under Alberta's new bitumen royalty in-kind (BRIK) program. He told the Heartland association's annual regional stakeholder meeting that a detailed review will begin immediately and a decision is expected by May.




"But the guidelines are clear, that processing of the bitumen has to take place in Alberta, and the Industrial Heartland is the preferred location."




Energy Minister Ron Liepert, on his first outing since being named energy minister two weeks ago, praised the Heartland group as a key force in promoting Alberta's need to do more than simply ship its bitumen out of the province.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Southwest Calgary highest for resale





The city's southwest was tops during the last three months of 2010 for resale condo activity and prices, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.





The board's Zone C, which roughly corresponds to that quadrant, cleared the $300,000 mark during October to December. It had 545 sales at an average price of $302,579.




When it came to individual communities within the zone, Connaught again was the most active during that period, tallying 55 sales at an average price of $303,605.




Victoria Park had the next highest sales, totalling 36 at an average selling price of $349,543.








Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Calgary waiting game questioned






If consumers think they will hang on for a while longer before buying -- just in case prices fall some more -- they had better think again, say experts.




Officials from both the new and resale housing sectors have sent the message that prices will move up this year.




Sano Stante, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, is the latest to indicate this move.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Calgary potential home buyers sit on sidelines





CALGARY - As a potential first-time homebuyer, Kelly Steward has kept a close eye on Calgary's residential real estate market for the past six months.




She admits she's pretty "picky" because she is searching for a property that either has a suited basement or has a basement that can be converted into a legal suite. That makes it more difficult to find the right property and is one of the reasons her plunge into home ownership is taking so long.




"But a lot of things also just seem overpriced on the market still. I've been watching it. This month looks like there have been less sales. Hopefully that will help my position a little bit," says Steward, as sales remain sluggish in the real estate market in Calgary at the beginning of the new year.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Alberta food service decline steepest in country







CALGARY - Alberta experienced the steepest year-over-year decline in the food services industry in November.




Statistics Canada reported today that sales in the food services and drinking places industry fell 1.9 per cent from October to $569 million. But that was still up 5.5 per cent from November 2009.




Nationally, sales fell 0.2 per cent from October to $4.1 billion in November. Annual sales were also up by 5.2 per cent.




"Since February 2010, sales of food have increased by 0.2 per cent, while the price of food purchased in restaurants has risen by 1.8 per cent," said the federal agency.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Political turmoil adds extra worth to the Canadian oilpatch




Political turmoil in Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt is lighting up the geopolitics-of-oil spotlight in the Middle East again. Oil prices are flaring up without hesitation and are sure to uphold an uncertainty premium of a several dollars over the coming weeks. Of course, the premium will escalate if there is any hint that the unrest is spreading to a significant oil producer in the region.




Indirectly, these unsettling events afar add extra worth to oil in regions like Canada that sport political stability and certainty.




But is the Canadian oil and gas industry ready to deal with the consequences? Even in the absence of Middle Eastern disorder, industry spending has been rising and more rigs have been going back to work in pursuit of oil. Projects in the oilsands have been revving up too, all of which means the Canadian oilpatch is on the verge of being in dire need of more people again.




Figure 1shows the five-year trend in Alberta`s employment numbers for workers engaged in the business of fisheries, forestry, mining, and oil and gas.




Last we checked Alberta`s fishing fleet wasn`t hiring. So, most of the workers being tracked in Figure 1 have boots on the ground in the oilpatch.



Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Downtown Calgary condo sells for record $4.1 million





CALGARY - A luxury penthouse condominium in the downtown Eau Claire area sold for $4.1 million on the weekend - the highest MLS sale price for a condo in Calgary, the Herald has learned.




The condo was listed at $4.497 million.




The listing by realtor Heather Waddell, of Royal LePage Foothills, described the 4,400-square-foot property as one of the finest penthouse residences in Calgary with views to "forever."




"Opulent, spectacular, elegant yet warm and restful; this is a home for enjoying - whether alone, entertaining a small gathering or a large crowd. The home flows from one room to another and spills out to the wonderful outdoor living space. The rooms are like the view - grand, and highlighted by an airy atrium with a huge fountain," said the listing.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Acto Electric chooses transmission line route





EDMONTON ` Atco Electric has chosen a preferred route for its $1.6-billion transmission line in eastern Alberta.




The 500-kilovolt direct-current (HVDC) line will connect a hub in the Gibbons-Redwater area northeast of Edmonton to a southeast hub in the Brooks area, the company said. A converter station will be constructed at each end of the 500-kilometre line.




The chosen route is believed by the company to be the one that will have the least impact, said Ray Boven, senior vice-president of the HVDC project. This route maximizes the distance from homes, tries to follow existing power line rights of way or existing property boundaries and avoids environmentally sensitive areas, he said.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Suncor's quarterly profit hits $1.35B





CALGARY - Calgary-based Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) oWednesday said its fourth quarter profits tripled as it reaped the benefits of higher oil prices and stronger refining margins.




The Calgary-based company made $1.35 billion or 87 cents per share in the final three months of last year compared to $457 million or 29 per share in the fourth quarter of 2009.




Excluding one time items, operating earnings of $946 million or 60 cents per share compared to $342 million or 22 cents per share in the prior year quarter.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Canada-U.S. pipe would cut Middle East oil imports






WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposed pipeline from Canada's oil sands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico would help "essentially eliminate" U.S. oil imports from the Middle East in a decade or two, according to a new study commissioned by the Department of Energy.





Oil deliveries from the $7 billion pipeline, combined with a projected drop in U.S. fuel demand, would potentially turn the United States into a net exporter of products like gasoline, jet fuel and diesel, said the report, called "Keystone XL Assessment."





The Obama administration is divided over Keystone XL, a project that could ease reliance on oil from politically unstable regions, but boost dependence on Canadian oil sands, a crude that many environmental groups oppose.





The State Department, which is determining whether the pipeline would be necessary to improve U.S. energy security, recently put the report by energy consultancy EnSys on its website. .



Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
2011 Edmonton home sales off to slow start





EDMONTON - Edmonton-area home sales started 2011 at a considerably slower pace than 2010, show MLS figures released Wednesday by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.




Residential sales for the Edmonton region in January were 735, down 11.9 per cent from December and off by 21 per cent from January 2010.




Buyers began entering the market in January last year to beat mortgage lending changes by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and expected interest rate hikes, but the market slumped after a strong start to the year.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Keystone XL could eliminate need for oil from Middle East:: Study





CALGARY - The United States will continue to burn Canadian oilsand crude whether TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline gets built or not, according to a new report.




The pipeline project, currently waiting in the wings for a presidential approval, has raised heated opposition from environmental groups arguing the $7-billion line would boost dependency on carbon-intensive fuel to the detriment of renewable energy.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
California backstops two Alberta wind projects





EDMONTON ` California`s stringent rules for renewable energy have given a kick-start to two major wind-power projects planned for Alberta.




Under California`s renewable energy credits program, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has agreed to buy all the power for 20 years from Greengate Power Corp.`s 150-megawatt Halkirk 1 project east of Stettler and the 300-megawatt Blackspring Ridge project north of Lethbridge.




The wind power will go into the Alberta electrical grid, which is linked to the western half of North America.




Edmonton`s Capital Power Corp. is a 50-50 partner in Halkirk, although it has not yet signed a formal agreement.




Read the full article here.
 

Ally

Research Assistant
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
16,743
Calgary landlord hit with lawsuits after 2009 fatal fire in Parkdale basement





The survivor of a fatal basement suite fire in Parkdale, and the families of the three young adults who died in the blaze, are suing the landlord for damages and hoping to send a message to other landlords.


Four lawsuits were filed on Jan. 24 in the Court of Queen's Bench against landlord Akif Amin, one each by the families of Jonathan St. Pierre, Tiffany Cox, Colleen Mantei and survivor Tammy Adacsi.


They were in the suite on 33rd Street N.W. on Jan 26, 2009, when a space heater caught fire and filled the basement with smoke.




Read the full article here.
 
Top Bottom