Energy Archives - Page 3 of 6

1Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Capital Spending, Energy, Fiscal History, Government Finances

Budget 2022- Analysis and Opinion

The Alberta government’s recent budget reveals- once again- the provincial treasury’s over-dependence on non renewable resource revenue. This budget continues a six-decade tradition of resource revenue making up for a deficient, unstable revenue base to produce budget balance. However, as the chart below illustrates Alberta has never had a budgetary surplus, when excluding resource revenues since 1965-66. The surplus targets for fiscal years 2022-25 also produce the same results. This year, Albertans are expected to only contribute 78 cents on the dollar to Alberta’s expected revenues. If oil persists at an average of $90 U.S. per barrel over the whole fiscal year beginning April 1, then an extra $10-billion will be received meaning taxpayers will only foot 59 per cent of the bills. C...

27Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Economic Data, Energy, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Budget 2022: the 2023 election begins

Analysis and Opinion On Thursday afternoon, 24 February Travis Toews tabled his fourth budget. From the standpoint of the United Conservative Party, the budget was an unadulterated triumph. Sure, higher oil prices had something to do with the anticipated surplus in 2022-23 ("a traffic cone could balance Alberta's budget," NDP opposition leader Rachel Notley proclaimed before the speech). admitted Toews to interviewers, but other revenue sources were healthier. By sticking to the fiscal plan as outlined in September 2019 by the MacKinnon panel, the government had done the hard lifting of keeping expenses from growing and attracting investment and Albertans were now reaping the fiscal and economic rewards. In this post, I examine the budget address of Toews, its key messages and its impli...

22Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

ATB, Banks, Energy, Environment, Financial Institutions

Central bank, OSFI take reins on climate change- Alberta’s oil and gas economy will be changed by federal regulators

Updated 7 February 2022 On Friday 14 January the Bank of Canada and Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released a report on a pilot study respecting the potential impact of climate change on Canada's major financial institutions. Canada's central bank and OSFI are jointly responsible for the stability of Canada's financial system. As international organizations mobilize resources to understand the linkages between national and global climate change policy shifts, there is a growing unease among regulators on how prepared banks and insurers are in understanding and managing credit risk and market risk of clients who are especially exposed to climate change policies. Bank of Canada, Ottawa Source: Bank of Canada See my article in The Conversation...

21Jan

By Bob Ascah1 Comment

Energy, Energy, Politics

Gordon Laxer on Big Foreign Oil

Balancing perspectives: Why was foreign influence exercised in Alberta’s Oilpatch not investigated by the Allan Inquiry? Gordon Laxer is one of Canada’s foremost political economists. He was the founding director of The Parkland Institute at the University of Alberta and is the author of many books, articles, and opinion pieces on Canada’s oil and gas sector. Abpolecon.ca is pleased to share with our readership Dr. Laxer’s recent work on foreign influence and control in Canada’s oil and gas sector. In a report, co-published by the Council of Canadians and CPPA Saskatchewan and B.C., entitled “Posing as Canadian- How Big Foreign Oil captures Canadian energy and climate policy,” he counters the widely derided Allan Inquiry report into foreign funding. Laxer finds it hypocritical of UCP polic...

16Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Demographics, Economic Data, Energy, Society

Some charts

Below are several charts which yield a number of economic insights about the Alberta economy. Interprovincial migration The first chart illustrates the impact of interprovincial migration - people coming to and leaving Alberta since 1961.The chart shows five distinct periods associated with boom and bust conditions in the oil and gas industry. Periods where blue is dominant are boom periods where Alberta was attracting thousands more in-migrants than those leaving the province. These are periods of growing employment and occasional labour shortages. Where the brown colour is dominant, these are quarters when outflow of people exceeded inflows. Employment The chart below shows total employment, all occupations, for the province of Alberta since 2006. Alberta employment grows steadily unti...

9Jan

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Budget, Energy, Government Finances, Politics

Alberta’s Revenue Options: Presentation to Association of Retired University Professors, U of A

Presentation On Thursday, 6 January I was invited to make a presentation on what the province's revenue options were going into the next budget. Provincial budgets by law must be presented before the end of each February. The presentation generated a great deal of discussion which will be touched on below. The PDF of presentation can be found at the foot of this article. The purpose of the discussion was to stimulate an exchange of ideas concerning what future Alberta governments might do to raise more revenue. I began by defining what I saw as the problem. The first problem is the Alberta government's over-reliance on resource royalties to fund its spending. The second issue is that Alberta has not achieved a budgetary surplus without resource revenue since at least 1965. The first ch...

24Dec

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Employment, Energy, Opinion/Research

The Allan Inquiry

Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage. had the privilege, on behalf of Mr. Kenney’s government, to release the much delayed and controversial report of the public inquiry into anti-energy campaigns (Allan Report). As readers are aware this much maligned inquiry run by J. Stephens Allan was $1-million over budget and delayed several times. Besides the political controversies it stirred, its mandate was assailed by Amnesty International Canada as it “feeds into a worsening climate of hostility towards human rights defenders — particularly Indigenous, women and environmental human rights defenders — exposing them to intimidation and threats, including threats of violence,” This stirred a condescending and lengthy response from Jason Kenney (published in its entirety in the National Post) wh...

1Nov

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Financial Institutions, Opinion/Research

Captive insurance- Why the Interest Now?

The Pitch On Wednesday, 27 October Finance Minister Travis introduced Bill 76 the Captive Insurance Companies Act. The accompanying press release noted the Bill would be "an alternative to the traditional insurance market to help relieve cost and availability pressures on Alberta businesses." A captive insurance company could be owned by "industrial, commercial or financial entity that can offer services when traditional insurers are unable to provide necessary coverage." The release went on to note that "challenges with global insurance supply" are making it difficult for commercial entities to find adequate insurance at reasonable prices." The creation of a captive insurer would allow a company to insure its own risks or members of an association or industry group. These entities would h...

10Oct

By Bob Ascah2 Comments

Employment, Energy, Investment, Opinion/Research

Dow- a victory for Kenney (of sorts)

On Wednesday 6 October a joyful Premier Kenney announced the biggest hit of his economic recovery plan with Midland, Michigan-headquartered Dow Chemicals committing to a huge petrochemical investment beside its existing Fort Saskatchewan facility. The full text is worthy to cite as it highlights Kenney's possible rising from "political dead man walking" status. The message and excitement contained within was worthy of a crow's proud call. “Today Dow announced what could become the largest investment in the Alberta economy in more than a decade. This is a huge win for job creation, economic growth and Alberta’s Economic Recovery Plan. If this project receives regulatory approval and a positive final investment decision, it will lead to a multibillion-dollar investment in our economy a...

10Jul

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Energy, Government Finances

Budget Deficit “falls” to $17 billion

Highlights Deficit up significantly from Budget 2020 due to COVID-19 and oil price drop but lower that first quarter forecast due to rising oil prices in final fiscal quarter (January-March 2021). Government takes a $1.3-billion write-down of its investment in TC Energy’s Keystone XL pipeline. Education spending significantly lower than budget (4 %) and from last year (4.9 %). Total revenues were $6.8-billion lower than budget while federal transfers $1.5-billion higher than last year. Dark spots- government investments- Keystone XL, oil-by-rail contracts, and the Sturgeon refinery. Finance Minister Toews released the Province’s annual financial report on Wednesday 30 June. In his press release he emphasized the “notable fiscal gains made in (the) final months of 2020-21.” It was an upb...