Heavy crude discount no cause for panic

While the widening Canadian heavy crude discount has sent the Alberta government scrambling to make up for the shortfall, the province’s oil sands companies are not pressing the panic button — yet.

Stronger balance sheets backing projects, foreign capital and risk-sharing will help the industry weather the downside, Bob German, chief executive of contracting firm Horizon North Logistics Inc., told a recent investor conference.

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Oil price imbalance an unpleasant surprise and lasting detriment to Alberta

EDMONTON – The huge differential between Alberta and U.S. crude oil prices that is creating a cash shortfall for the province came as a surprise to government officials and will not soon disappear, Energy Minister Ken Hughes said Wednesday.

“On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Mexican Mayan heavy crude, which is very similar to our bitumen (blend), is getting $94 a barrel today while ours is $48 a barrel,” he told the Journal in an interview. “We are giving a $30 billion benefit to the American economy because of this. Is that in our national interest?

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Ewart: Oilsands success, pipeline failures prove costly

The Alberta government is paying the price for the success of efforts to develop the oilsands and the failure to develop pipelines to get that oil to market.

The price – as measured by what is known as the differential, or discount, from global benchmark crudes – is currently about $29 on each of the 2.5 million barrels of oil pumped every day in Canada’s biggest oil-producing province. That works out to $72.5 million a day. Over a year, that’s $26.5 billion of potential revenue not circulating in the provincial economy.

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Light crude surplus spins world oil trade compass

The world is increasingly saturated with hitherto scarce high-quality light crude with Europe’s market to join the United States in a surplus, traders say, predicting a scramble to export to Asia and a global shortage of once abundant heavy oil.

The shale oil boom has pushed U.S. production to the highest in more than 15 years and sharply cut its appetite for oil from Nigeria or Algeria as most of its domestically produced barrels are similarly light and low-sulphur, or sweet.

Now, it is Europe’s turn to feel the same impact even without a U.S.-style shale boom.

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TransCanada, Phoenix team up to build $3-billion Alberta pipeline

TransCanada Corp.and Phoenix Energy Holdings Ltd. are forming a partnership to build a $3-billion pipeline project in Northern Alberta to serve an area of emerging oil sands production.

Each of the companies would own half of the Grand Rapids project, which they expect will carry crude oil and diluent for oil sands producers northwest of Fort McMurray, Alta., starting in early 2017.

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US could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as world’s biggest oil producer; output is booming

NEW YORK,N.Y.-U.S.oil output is surging so fast that the United States could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest producer.

Driven by high prices and new drilling methods,U.S.production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 per cent this year to an average of 10.9 million barrels per day. This will be the fourth straight year of crude increases and the biggest single-year gain since 1951.

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