The economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic should include Nova Scotia and New Brunswick lifting restrictions on natural gas fracking. Natural gas prices are low but that won’t last forever. Energy industry observers say the natural gas supply glut existed even well before the pandemic. However, the oversupply problems seem to be worse for American…
The province's aversion to pipelines and its ban on fracking create serious problems. It's time to let free enterprise pave the way to a better future
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has suggested to Quebec that pipelines would prevent events like the recent propane shortage caused by the CN Rail strike. The lack of propane hampered harvest for Quebec farmers, and endangered users of propane heating in seniors residences, hospitals and mobile homes. Critics have noted pipelines don’t usually carry propane. But…
Shale-gas policy changes, followed by investments across the country, would turn Canada into an international leader in the transition towards clean energy
“It takes real skill to derail an industry where Canada has so many competitive advantages,” writes Rick Rule regarding energy markets. The chief executive of Sprott US Holdings, a natural-resource brokerage, says the barrier is politics, while Canadian firms, technology and geology are top tier. Fortunately, policy can change and Canada can lead clean-energy production.…
Investment makes workers more productive, creates better jobs and drives income growth. Fracking offers a simple, safe solution
By Matthew Lau and Marco Navarro-Genie Contributors The new government in New Brunswick faces no shortage of challenges. One of the most important to address is the dearth of business investment in the region. Hydraulic fracturing offers a solution. On a per capita basis in 2017, investment in non-residential structures, machinery, equipment and intellectual property…
The efficiencies of shale exploitation technology may be sowing the seeds of a rapid decline
Ten-plus years ago, we heard about the “shale revolution” – the realization that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing were changing the face of the oil industry, unleashing huge new supplies of gas and oil from unconventional (shale and tight) reservoirs. And while the revolution is still confined largely to the United States and Canada, it…
Nova Scotia's continued ban on fracking isn't supported by evidence. And it has severely curtailed spending and job creation
With an estimated 1.6-plus-trillion cubic feet of natural gas under foot, Nova Scotian policy-makers are choking out economic growth potential with bad public policy. Their hasty decisions regarding the not-so-new technology of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking, which has been around since the 1950s) were justified by claiming to have been based on incomplete, unavailable or…
Even climate extremists should embrace natural gas, since it’s slowly replacing coal and oil, and cutting carbon emissions
The shale revolution, technology unleashing vast new oil and natural gas production, is delivering lower energy costs to countries, industries and consumers. Without revolutionary hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling, Canadians’ heating bills would be twice what they are now. Gasoline prices – soaring now due it is half as deleterious as oil. And if…
Across Canada, misguided populism is creating bad public policy, preventing the spreading of economic benefits to all citizens
Misguided moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing deny have-not provinces much-needed jobs and revenue, and deny citizens opportunities to relieve too-heavy tax burdens. British Columbia is the latest victim of the frenzy against fracking, a technique used to extract oil and gas from rock formations that has been safely used in Western Canada for more than 60…
The ban on hydraulic fracturing defies science that says the practice is safe. And it means turning away from billions in profits
Nova Scotia's wrong-headed ban on fracking denies the province a golden economic opportunity. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is used to extract oil and gas from deep underground rock formations. Fluid is injected into formations with enough pressure to fracture the oil-and-gas-bearing rock. The Nova Scotia Energy Department has been told that the province sits on…