Crescent Point Energy increases in size by a third with purchase of Montney player Hammerhead Energy Inc. for $2.55 billion. The company is in the hunt again, but its focus is Alberta, not Saskatchewan.

This is significant news. I’ve been saying for a while that Crescent Point has lost interest in Saskatchewan, and any day now we can expect the company to sell off its assets here. Note that both Shaunavon and Weyburn have rinks called “Crescent Point Place” and the lounge at the Estevan rink is similarly named. I pointed out in the story the company for a brief time was Saskatchewan’s largest oil producer. They did over 20 acquisitions (actually closer to 30, I believe), most of them in Saskatchewan, creating many millionaires and making a lot of people rich. But these days it is readily apparent their interest is elsewhere. The only references to Saskatchewan were, at the top of the list of highlights, that this deal “Transforms company into a Montney and Kaybob Duvernay focused E&P with complementary long-cycle assets in Saskatchewan.”

Also noteworthy – with this announcement they are increasing the Alberta proportion of their capital expenditure to 80%, up from the 70% from just a few weeks ago. It wasn’t that long ago, it was more like 95% in Saskatchewan.

So if you want to know why our drilling rig count is down so much, why $80 to $90 oil doesn’t have activity shooting up in this province – here’s your answer.

Also, Guilbeault says no more carbon price carve outs on his watch, as Tory motion fails.

And some nutjobs attacked a painting, in London, again. But since there’s glass over paintings now to protect them from paint, these folks used hammers.

If someone’s going to make billions in the lithium world, maybe we in Saskatchewan should put some of that in our pocket. One of the three active lithium explorers in Saskatchewan is moving closer to commercialization. This is a video I did showing what’s going on. Lots of cool shots of earthmovers.