March 2012 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

U.S. energy committee endorses oilsands extraction





A Republican-led U.S. congressional subcommittee discussing oilsands technology Tuesday endorsed fast-growing extraction of Alberta's vast bitumen reserves, as conservative and liberal politicians alike publicly embrace continental fossil fuel development ahead of the presidential election.




The soaring cost of gasoline and a high U.S. unemployment rate provided a backdrop for support from the House energy and commerce subcommittee on energy and power, which hailed Canada's regulatory regime for enabling domestic production growth and slammed U.S. President Barack Obama's energy policies for doing what its chairman called the opposite.




"Canadian regulators seek to make energy production safe, while the Obama administration's regulators often seek to make it impossible," said Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the subcommittee.






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[Ally]

TransCanada looks east as Gateway pipeline gets bogged down






TransCanada Corp. (TRP-T43.940.290.66%) is proposing a major shift in the way oil moves across Canada, urging the oil patch to consider a massive $5.6-billion new pipeline system that would carry large volumes of western crude to refineries in Ontario, Quebec and beyond.




The East Coast Pipeline Project, as TransCanada has dubbed it in presentations to energy companies, could do more than supply the east with fuels made from oil sands crude. It could serve as an alternative to Northern Gateway, the controversial West Coast export pipeline project from TransCanada competitor Enbridge Inc. that has faced a wall of opposition from first nations and environmental groups.





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[Ally]

How to kill Alberta's golden goose





CALGARY, AB, Mar. 26, 2012, Troy Media/ ` If Albertans employed in the energy sector ever wonder why some people underestimate the vast contributions made by the oil and gas industry to Alberta`s prosperity, a new ad from the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) provides a clue.



In a recent newsletter sent to Alberta`s nurses, the province`s umbrella organization for unions published a one-page ad that portrays a balding energy company executive sitting at a hefty desk with his large whisky carafe beside him. The Dickens-like figure intones, `Your provincial government would rather underfund its own education and health care systems than charge me and my energy company an extra penny in taxes or royalties.`





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[Ally]

Calgary to lead Canada's economic growth in 2013





CALGARY ` Calgary is forecast to lead the country in economic growth between the years 2013-2016 averaging 4.1 per cent each year, according to the Conference Board of Canada`s Metropolitan Outlook Spring 2012 released Tuesday.




The report forecast Saskatoon to lead the country this year with Real GDP Growth of 3.6 per cent followed by Calgary at 3.5 per cent and Edmonton at 3.2 per cent.




In 2011, the board said Regina led all areas in economic growth at 6.1 per cent followed by Saskatoon (4.8 per cent), Edmonton (4.4 per cent), Vancouver and Calgary (each at 3.1 per cent).






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[Ally]

Endbridge, Enterprise to double Cushing capacity to Gulf



CALGARY - Enbridge Inc http://http://www.enbridge.com/and Enterprise Products Partners LP http://http://www.enterpriseproducts.com/will more than double the capacity of the Seaway Pipeline and expand another line from Illinois, further easing a major oil glut in the United States.




The firms are pumping more than $2 billion into expanding the U.S. pipeline network after securing sufficient customer commitments for shipping a growing surplus of crude in the U.S. Midwest, which has been inundated with fast-rising supplies of Canadian and North Dakota oil, to refiners along the Gulf Coast.




The projects, when completed by mid-2014, should help bring a conclusive end to the glut of landlocked U.S. crude that has caused an unprecedented distortion in oil markets, driving the price of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude to as much as $28 a barrel below European Brent crude.






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[Ally]

Oilsands nearing pipeline crunch





CALGARY - Crude-on-crude competition for export pipeline space is moving up predictions for a pinch point faced by oilsands producers that some observers warn will have to postpone or scrap future expansions, unless new pipe is laid.




Fast-growing supplies of conventional crude from North Dakota and western Canadian provinces are fighting for room in pipelines with rising bitumen output, the Canadian Energy Research Institute said in a report Monday, forecasting that by 2015 oilsands growth could grind to a halt should no additional lines be built.






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[Ally]

Plans for resort at Pigeon Lake ruffle feathers




EDMONTON - A development battle is shaping up at Pigeon Lake over plans for an 1,149-dwelling year-round resort.




Edmonton-based developer Dansol International wants to build Watermere Resort, a residential and commercial project on 125 hectares just off the northwestern shore of the popular lake southwest of Edmonton.




The proposal includes condo-style single-family lots, duplexes, townhouses, multi-family dwellings and mixed commercial-residential buildings. The site, pastureland just west of Highway 771 and opposite Zeiner Park, could also include a hotel, spa and other businesses such as restaurants, gas stations, souvenir stores and boutique markets.



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[Ally]

Work camp population booms along with oil sands




EDMONTON - The work-camp population in northeastern Alberta is set to grow again, possibly by as much as 30 per cent, as the oilsands boom ramps up in the Fort McMurray area.




Applications for another 48 work camps with a total of 17,000 beds are in the queue for provincial permits, mostly in the northeast, though not every application will necessarily be approved by the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, which regulates use of public lands, says spokesman Duncan MacDonnell.




Currently, there are 53,500 beds available in dozens of camps. Of those, about 35,200 are at operating oilsands projects and 18,300 are at `open camps` run by independent contractors, MacDonnell added.





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[Ally]

New Endbridge line to Gulf would take on Keystone






As North American crude oil prices continue to languish, pipeline builder Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T38.65-0.40-1.02%) is launching a major new round of construction to push more barrels down the centre of the continent, in hopes of easing supply gluts that have kept prices low.




Enbridge said Monday evening that it intends to expand by more than five times the size of the Seaway pipeline it recently acquired, and proceed with a major new pipe that will carry new supplies between the U.S. Midwest and the continental heartland.





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[Ally]

Oil sands jobs help drive Alberta economy






TORONTO, March 26, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ ` As Statistics Canada`s recent Labour Market Survey results indicate that after six consecutive months of growth, Alberta`s labour market slipped 0.3 per cent from the previous month, Mike Winterfield, President of the Professionals division for Randstad Canada, the country`s leader for staffing, recruitment and HR Services, emphasizes that despite the dip in February, the Oil Sands Jobs within the Oil and Gas sector that are keeping Alberta`s job market healthy.




While at first glance, Statistics Canada`s latest job numbers for Alberta don`t appear all that flattering, dropping more than 7,000 jobs in February, the results are not as bad as they look. The province still holds one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 5.0 per cent. Additionally, on a year-over-year basis, Alberta has experienced the highest growth rate in the country (up 2.8 per cent or by 58,400 jobs).





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