Destination Europe
Canadian E&P companies active in Europe and the Middle East must deal with complex economic and social issues
A little over a year ago, most European and Middle Eastern countries looked pretty attractive to Canadian oil and gas firms casting their eye overseas. Both regions are now facing their own particular forms of economic and social turmoil, but with a few exceptions, Canadian companies are still there. Europe may in fact have more of a shine now and the Middle East more of a tarnish.
Supplier of the Year: Waste not, want not
In rethinking industrial waste, Newalta Corp., Oilweek’s 2011 Supplier of the Year, helps create a more sustainable oilpatch.
From the early “bury and burn” days of industrial waste management, to today’s call for more efficient use of natural resources, Newalta Corp. has emerged as a powerhouse in oilpatch waste recycling, recovery of materials and waste handling. Last year, Newalta recovered 1.9 million barrels of crude oil and 22 million litres of base oil and lubricants, making it—if plotted among Oilweek’s annual roundup of Top 100 oil and gas producers—a good-sized oil and gas junior producing about 5,600 barrels a day. That volume comes without drilling a single well. And it’s net negative of greenhouse gas emissions. How many producers can say that?
Breaking Free
The high cost of capital and expensive resource plays make it difficult for many juniors to swim ahead of the school
The days of three guys joining forces, launching an exploreco with a market cap of about $30 million and drilling some wells may be coming to an end. Or at least their prospects for success today are slimmer than they were certainly a decade ago when accretive income trusts provided a ready exit strategy.
Women in Industry
Producer of the Year
Bonavista combines what was best about income trusts with what is best about corporations to create a dividend-paying powerhouse
Keep it low-key. Don’t stand out in the crowd too much. And because success is a team effort at Bonavista Energy Corporation, bring in your president and chief operating officer to focus the discussion on the company and its people—these are just some of the things Keith MacPhail, Bonavista’s chairman and chief executive officer, seems to have considered before sitting down to discuss his company’s selection as Oilweek’s 2011 Producer of the Year.
Running On Fumes
In another initiative to increase demand and reap the rewards of low natural gas prices, operators are turning to gas to power their drilling activities
Natural gas prices remain below C$4 per thousand cubic feet. Crude oil is hanging in around the US$80 pera barrel mark. And diesel fuel remains around US$4 pera gallon. Natural gas demand remains weak in North America as the United States struggles to avoid a double-dip recession, suggesting that gas prices will stay right where they are for at least the next few years. And most of us fully expect crude oil to climb off the price mat sooner rather than later—after all, plus-$100-plus oil is only a hurricane or a Middle East uprising away.
Baby Steps
As the Yukon’s mining business stands on the threshold of another boom, moves are underway to develop the territory’s natural gas potential
In the vast, under populated Yukon Territories, a 125-year-old mining industry that traces its origins back to the fabled Klondike gold rush is stirring again, driven by record gold prices and other high metals prices.
