oil sands

Slow year ahead for Alberta as price of black gold drops

Oil is Alberta’s business, however, the price of Western Canadian Select, which is made up of heavy conventional and bitumen crude oil, has been decreasing.

With the Province’s reliance on this huge energy commodity, both politicians and economists point to a sluggish Alberta economy limping into next year’s fiscal budget, which will be made public in March.

According to Net Energy Inc., a crude oil trading system based in Calgary, Western Canadian Select has been trading at roughly $35 per barrel less than benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude.

Though the price of Alberta oil has always been offered at a discount, the differential between what’s shipped out of the province compared to WTI or other world oil prices has increased quickly and put Premier Alison Redford’s government under pressure. Read the full story at the Rocky Mountain Outlook.

Blake Richards MP talks pipelines, budget and hot springs

In the first ever tele-townhall for the Wild Rose constituency, member of Parliament Blake Richards answered questions from residents on Monday (Jan. 21) concerning a variety of issues such as natural resources, privatization of local hot springs and the federal government’s commitment to achieving a balanced budget.

Using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology, the MP engaged in a public question period where more than 3,700 people from across the constituency were contacted and asked to participate. Submissions sent via e-mail were also addressed in the hour-long conference.

Several of the questions put to Richards during the conference dealt specifically with the country’s natural resources, predominately the oil and gas industry and potential impacts on the environment. Read the full story at the Rocky Mountain Outlook.