“These are challenging times. I can’t say it any other way”. This is one of the last comments Alberta Premier Jim Prentice made at a news conference following his speech at the World Heavy Oil Congress.
Prentice is counting on oil to hit the $60/barrel mark by next year. He’s basing his next budget on it. The Premier doesn’t think the price will be anywhere near the $80 mark for at least three years.
The message at the news conference was similar to the one he delivered in front of a ballroom of delegates.
He made it clear to those in attendance that while growth has diminished, capital expenditures are down and their have been layoffs, the industry is forging ahead.
Pumping out almost 3-million barrels a day, that figure is expected to jump as high as 5-million a day by 2020.
Prentice acknowledged repeatedly it won’t be easy, but he has two goals for Alberta, “remain competitive in the marketplace and fulfill our obligation to protect the environment.
The latter takes into account another goal to be reached by 2020 and that is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 mega-tonnes. That would be equivalent to about 10-million vehicles being taken off that road.*
*Source: Alberta Government
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