CALGARY ` The Alberta government has officially signed off on a 105,000-barrel-per-day thermal oilsands project proposed by Devon Energy Corp. and BP PLC.
The province gave order-in-council approval of the project in northeastern Alberta on Thursday, about two and a half years after Devon made application to the predecessor of the Alberta Energy Regulator.
Alberta is leading the way in job creation, and people across the country continue to flock to the province to stake out their fortune in black gold found in the province's oilsands.
Some people come to work in comfortable corporate office towers in the big cities, while others want to try their hand as a snubbing services operator or a drilling rig floorhand in the thick of the oil patch.
Suncor to increase spending on oil sands despite crude woes
Suncor Energy Inc. says it will pump billions into Alberta`s oil sands next year even as lower crude prices chip away at the company`s profits.
Suncor plans to spend between $7-billion and $8-billion next year, up from a projected $6.8-billion this year, chief executive officer Steve Williams said Thursday, as construction on the company`s Fort Hills mine ramps up. The $13.5-billion joint venture with Teck Resources Ltd. and Total SA is slated to add 180,000 barrels per day of new capacity in northern Alberta, with first oil slated for 2017.
The Petroleum Services Association of Canada is forecasting an almost seven per cent drop in the number of wells drilled next year, but that isn't the half of it.
In a rapidly changing industry, the total number of holes punched in the ground - PSAC predicts there will be 10,100 wells drilled in 2015 - doesn't accurately reflect actual oilfield activity these days. Advances in rig technology, multiwell pads, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are dramatically changing the landscape. Simply put, less is more.
Home construction in Calgary expected to cool off after record year in 2014
CALGARY - Total housing starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area are projected to reach a record high this year but then moderate in 2015 and 2016, according to a new report released Thursday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
And the city`s resale market will also set a record for annual MLS sales.
Red Deer in the middle of the pack for real estate investment
A business that specializes in real estate investment research and education has ranked Red Deer in the middle of the pack when it comes to investment options in Alberta.
The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) has Red Deer tied for sixth place with St. Albert on a list of 11 communities. Edmonton tops the rankings, followed by Calgary, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc and Airdrie. Rounding out the list are Cold Lake, Lloydminster, Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie.
Yes, oil prices are down 25 per cent in just four months. But compared to the near 80-per-cent haircut that occurred during The Great Recession, it`s been a walk in the park so far.
As oil prices plummeted to their lowest level in three years, Alberta Energy Minister Frank Oberle said Tuesday he doesn`t expect major provincial budget cuts this year or a sharp slowdown in the energy sector.
West Texas Intermediate crude slid two per cent to $77.19 US a barrel ` the lowest closing price since October 2011 ` on Tuesday, a day after energy heavyweight Saudi Arabia cut the price of oil sold into the United States.
Home sales, prices rise sharply in Calgary, Canada's hottest market
The hottest housing market in the country is still running strong.
Home sales in Calgary, the heart of Canada`s oil industry, surged by more than 10 per cent in October from a year earlier, while the city`s benchmark price rose by almost as much, up 9.5 per cent.
Sales in the city rose to 2,147, pushed along by condos, according to a report today from CREB, the local real estate board.
CALGARY - Real domestic product growth in Alberta surpassed the national average in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported Wednesday that Alberta`s real GDP advanced 3.8 per cent last year after increasing 4.5 per cent in 2012.