May 2011 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Gas producers target public education





The expanding controversy over natural-gas fracking is beginning to look a lot like the campaign against the oil sands.




This time, however, the oil-and-gas sector seems to be learning from its mistakes. It`s mobilizing to address concerns and fill communications gaps before critics go too far in shaping public perceptions and threatening the resource`s future.




`It`s fair to say that we were behind the curve on oil sands,` said David Collyer, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.





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[Ally]

Trade mission: China targeting tens of billions in Alberta oilsands investment





SHANGHAI - Alberta government and business leaders who sat down with Chinese energy executives this week were told tens of billions of dollars in new oilpatch investment will flow in the coming years ` if export capacity issues in Canada are improved.




Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove said Sunday that senior officials from Chinese state-owned oil firms anticipate future investment will dwarf ` potentially tripling ` what they have already spent in Canada`s energy sector in recent years.




In the past 18 months alone, Chinese oil companies have pumped more than $13 billion into developing crude oil and natural gas prospects in Western Canada.




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[Ally]

Calgary region MLS sales and prices forecast to rise: CMHC





CALGARY ` A report by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecasts MLS sales in the Calgary region to increase by nearly five per cent this year compared with a year ago while the average sale price will rise by just over one per cent.




The CMHC`s Spring 2011 Calgary Housing Market Outlook, released Monday, predicted MLS sales in the Calgary census metropolitan area would hit 22,000 this year, up by 4.8 per cent, and increase a further 2.3 per cent in 2012 to 22,500 transactions.




The agency forecast the average sale price to increase by 1.1 per cent this year to $403,000 while it would jump another 2.2 per cent in 2012 to $412,000.




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[Ally]

Is shale gas a fracking disaster?




As Germany rejects nuclear power, will shale gas bring the next energy revolution? Lesley Curwen debates the issue with Robert Howarth, Professor of Ecology at Cornell University and Maximilian Kuhn of the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security in London.




Robert Howarth outlines his research which suggests shale gas may be dirtier than coal in terns of carbon emissions. But Maximilian Kuhn argues a new fuel is needed urgently and shale gas could be a relatively cheap and quick solution.





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[Ally]

Natural gas: The turnaround kid in waiting




For years, natural gas has been unloved and undervalued, a commodity whose price has faltered so badly that even some of it its biggest producers have written off the possibility of a comeback for nearly a decade.




But now, a growing number of observers say evidence is mounting that gas prices are nearing a turning point, and that the stage is being set for a revival as soon as the next few months.




A gas price recovery is `just a matter of when, not if,` said Peter Tertzakian, chief energy economist at Calgary-based ARC Financial. `It could be as early as this summer ` but probably no later than the following winter. ` The psyche of the gas market is going to start to change.`





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