Alberta’s rolling blackouts show we’re the frog being boiled.
Also:
Saskatchewan’s Top 10 oil producers in 2023.
A second LNG facility at Kitimat, Cedar LNG, is getting seriously closer to going ahead.
Indeed, companies like Baker Hughes are already crowing about getting contracts.
The member of parliament who on Feb. 5 introduced one of the most draconian laws against free speech (and that’s saying something in recent years) has decided not to run again in the next election. NDP MP Charlie Angus is calling it quits at the end of this term, after 20 years.
He’s the guy who wanted to ban promotion of fossil fuels, having introduced a private members bill which would have meant every ad on Pipeline Online, for instance, could incur up to a half million dollar fine.
Six years ago, they scratched dirt on TMX. Finally, FINALLY, it is nearing completion, and expected to enter service May 1.
The original pipeline was built over 65 years ago with equipment that largely didn’t even have hydraulics, and absolutely did not have computers, GPS, laser measurement or anything else like that. And they did it in 16 months.
Also:
Brian Zinchuk on Evan Bray Show: Multilateral wells, oil royalties, TMX pipeline, lithium, helium and more
Are multi-laterals the next big thing in oil? Saskatchewan bets heavy on it with new incentive program. This is the largest change in oil royalties in decades, as the government hopes to incentivize activity and production. It’s a big shift for a government that for its entire 16 years in office said it wasn’t touching a thing when it comes to royalties.
Let me put this into perspective – for the several years Bill Boyd was energy minister, he always gave the same speech, which basically went like this: “The premier has told me to say thank you. Thank you for the jobs, thank you for the taxes, thank you for the royalties and investment. And we’re not touching a thing when it comes to royalties.”
Usually whenever someone mentions royalty changes, it’s with the intention of raising them. This is the opposite, providing a royalty incentive – NOT a holiday – to get more activity and production going.
Brian Crossman writes about hiring young people in the oilpatch. There’s different expectations today. But really, this applies to all sectors, methinks.
A while back he wrote this column about work ethic, which is the best I’ve seen. I frequently quote it to my own kids, one of whom is in the trades and one will be going into the trades.
Saskatchewan Budget 2024: Everything energy in the 2024 Saskatchewan budget. Details on Multi-lateral Well Program released #oilandgas
Brian Zinchuk: If Poilievre wins a massive majority, can we PLEASE build the Energy East Pipeline?
(I’m fairly certain Premier Moe is tired about me asking about this. I was still talking about it two years ago, which was four years after it was supposed to have been completed. But it’s worth a shot.)
UPDATE: It appears Premier Scott Moe agrees:
— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) March 14, 2024
Saturn Oil & Gas has joined the multi-lateral bandwagon, having drilled two open hole multi-lateral wells that the Government of Saskatchewan announced an incentive for yesterday (shared yesterday)
I’ve been saying for over a year the Government of Saskatchewan needs to do something to increase drilling numbers. I’m wondering if this is it?
Also: Alberta’s shaking up its electrical grid by 2027. And in a related story, new rules for power generators in Alberta
On Monday, Saskatchewan announced a new comprehensive program to attract investment to the province. One of the items is a new program to incentive multi-lateral wells. That’s a well that looks like a herringbone or spiderweb, with lots of legs and increased production.
The question I will be asking soon is if companies are already doing this, why do we need an incentive? Are we leaving money on the table, or is there an expectation of a lot more returns?
Pipeline capacity gets restrained, slowing growth in oil production. Pipelines get built (Enbridge Line 3 replacement, Trans Mountain Expansion, eventually) allowing for oil production to grow. Oil production will soon grow to use up all that extra capacity, and production growth will be restrained, again.
So then what? I’m not aware of ANY major new export pipelines projects being considered. After Northern Gateway, Keystone XL and Energy East being canned, who would? And after the federal government proved you could go 6x, maybe closer to 7x over budget building a pipeline they way they want it built, what idiot will try again?
The alternative will have to be crude-by-rail. Oh, lovely.
(That pipeline photos is of a tiny gathering pipeline near Estevan, not a mammoth transmission line.)
As for another fan (NOT) of crude by rail, Quick Dick McDick hauled canola recently. And sang about it. Seriously.
Brian Zinchuk on Evan Bray Show: Coal, CO2 and what it means for oil production, wind in Alberta, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, and a pile of listener calls. (Link is fixed)
Op-Ed: Kaase Gbakon: A (Hungry?) Tiger in Your Tank, Part 1
What if there was a way to keep coal mining jobs in Saskatchewan, continue to produce low-cost electrical power, and extend the production of a substantial portion of Saskatchewan’s oilfields not by decades, but by generations? And in doing so, we could still dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and maybe save some money by reducing our nuclear rollout?
Recent developments from Whitecap Resources showing using CO2 in the Frobisher formation led to initial results of 5x improved production. Not 5%, or 50%, but 5x. That’s 500%. I’m not saying it’ll stay anywhere close to that, but we should be taking a very serious look at this development, especially since most new drilling in southeast Saskatchewan is focused on the Frobisher, part of the Mississippian. While the Bakken was a flash in the pan, the Mississippian has been the mainstay of SE Sask oil production for generations. And this is a generational opportunity, but we will let it slip through our fingers if we shut down our coal-fired power plants.
This is one of the most significant opinion pieces I’ve ever done with regards to energy. It basically puts it all together.
You learn something new every day. I ALWAYS thought Saskatchewan’s largest industry was agriculture. How could it not be? Well, at least as measured by GDP, I was wrong. It’s actually oil and gas.
(I’ve been writing about this for almost 16 years. You think I would have clued in on something like that?)
While voicing its opposition to federal oil and gas emissions caps, Saskatchewan goes to Houston to seek investment
Saskatchewan’s letter to Guilbeault opposing oil and gas emissions cap.
Saskatchewan’s letter to Guilbeault opposing Methane 75 emissions.
With Alberta going all-in on its sovereign wealth fund (posted yesterday), should Saskatchewan take another look at one of its own? We had one, but it didn’t last long, and turned into something of a slush fund for Crown corporations, apparently. I dug up this discussion paper that was written by U of R professor Stuart Wilson which is actually pretty good. I republished the entire paper, with his permission, on Pipeline Online.
Perhaps ironically, Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund was originally modelled on Alberta’s. And that fund is now worth US$1.42 trillion dollars (with a “t”). (Norway has less oil than Alberta).
Danielle Smith goes all-in on revitalized sovereign wealth fund for Alberta. Saskatchewan had one, once, but that was 32 years ago. Details in story.
Quick Dick McDick: Climate Cult Megaspecial You gotta be $#!++!\ me
He even references “climate cult,” my favourite SDA category!
CJME/CKOM radio host Evan Bray visits the Estevan coal mine, and much learning ensues
Brian Crossman in Pipeline Online: “I am. I’m really, really trying. I had a bit of a rough year health-wise, which of course leads to over-thinking your place in the world. So, I thought I would try to be a better person. You know, be nice to strangers, try harder at all the important things, do better at being charitable. But the biggest change I wanted to make was to quit complaining about, berating and outright insulting our political leaders.”
NDP MP Charlie Angus wants to shut down all oil and gas advertising.
In a move that would effectively destroy media like Pipeline Online, EnergyNow.ca, BOE Report, Daily Oil Bulletin and more, Timmins-James Bay NDP MP Charlie Angus on Feb. 6 proposed eliminating all advertising from oil and gas firms. “It is prohibited for a person to promote a fossil fuel, a fossil fuel-related brand element or the production of a fossil fuel except as authorized by the provisions of this Act or of the regulations,” the private members bill, which was just introduced and is not law, says.
Note, this was clearly endorsed by the national party and leader. There’s even a donation collection at the bottom of the press release.
Fines in the million dollar range, jail up to two years. This is what the NDP want of Canada. And I would be going to jail.
To quote Andor, “Fight the Empire!”
Danielle Smith asks ‘Is Canada Broken?’ in a video targeted at Steven Guilbeault’s environmental policies.
UPDATED: For seven days in a row, SaskPower saw wind generation hit zero for part of the day
The story originally said five days. SaskPower got back to me and noted the streak continued Jan. 7 and 8 as well. So that’s a whole week with wind flatlining. Total, complete flatline for part of the day, each day. How do you power the hospital my wife is an ER nurse at with zero power? Inquiring minds would like to know?
Also:
Weaker oil prices should bring some relief to consumers in 2024: Analysts
and
Quick Dick McDick: Saskatchewan Winterfront Regulation
Bonus points for Quick Dick’s instruction on how to use the box from a Pilsner 2-4 for a winterfront. Nothing says Saskatchewan like a Pil box on your pickup