Shale Slaughter Continues; Wall Street turned off the tap on credit for drillers
U.S. Shale Is Doomed No Matter What They Do: “More bankruptcies are all but certain as oil and gas borrowers must repay or refinance **several hundred billion dollars** of debt over the next six months”
Putting AIMCo in charge of teachers’ pension, WCB assets a ‘win win,’ Crown CEO says, Transferring management of more than $30 billion in teacher pensions and public investment funds to the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCO) would be to everyone’s benefit, says the Crown corporation’s CEO by Janet French, November 2, 2019, Calgary Herald
Transferring management of more than $30 billion in teacher pensions and public investment funds to the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCO) would be to everyone’s benefit, says the Crown corporation’s CEO.
“This is a rare instance where, if we do this right, there’s no sacrifice,” AIMCo CEO Kevin Uebelein said in a Friday interview. “There’s an opportunity to win on all accounts.”
Alberta teachers in particular have bristled at the news the provincial government intends to introduce legislation to transfer investment management control of three large funds to AIMCo. [I bristle too. Kenney’s intent with the money reeks as badly as Encana’s ovindictive.]
The government wants AIMCo to manage the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund (ATRF)— pegged at $16.6 billion in 2018 — along with a $10.7 billion Workers’ Compensation Board fund and $2.8-billion worth of Alberta Health Services investments, Uebelein said.
The latter two funds aren’t pensions — organizations use them for insurance payouts or other expenses.
AIMCo currently manages about $115-billion worth of investments for 31 clients, including the $48-billion Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP).
In an update posted to its website Friday, LAPP said the government intends to remove the plan’s option to choose its own fund manager in 2024. LAPP leaders are also seeking a meeting with the finance minister, it said.
Efficiencies of scale
Uebelein said taking on the three new funds and adding $30-billion worth of assets to AIMCo’s $115-billion portfolio would allow the Crown corporation to attract more talented employees, invest in better technology and become more globally competitive.
AIMCo is non-profit and only manages Alberta investments, he said. No one will get bigger bonuses or more shares or options from the moves, he said.
“All of us are doing this because we’re driven to try and do what’s right for our clients and for Alberta,” Uebelein said.
Government had not provided AIMCo a timeline for the potential transfer of control, he said. [Teachers! Do what you are able to prevent Kenney from sticking his grubby greedy fingers into your pension funds!! ]
The president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association was critical of the government’s move, saying control of the pension is being “hijacked” without consultation with teachers.
Earlier this week, the ATRF board chairwoman Sandra Johnston wrote to Finance Minister Travis Toews saying the board has “not seen any evidence that the action contemplated in the (provincial) budget will be in the best interest of our members.”
Although Toews has argued the ATRF move will save $41 million a year, Johnston’s letter said ATRF’s investments generated better returns than some of AIMCo’s and its investment choices best reflect the demographics of teachers. As it stands, ATRF can fire under-performing fund managers, she said.
Under AIMCo control, the board would be left with all of the responsibility and limited control, she said. There would also be job losses at ATRF, she said.
Client choices
Uebelein said AIMCo manages each investment according to the client’s needs. It’s near-impossible to compare investments’ performances — especially if their fiscal years don’t align, he said.
“It’s not a ‘We’re good, you’re bad’ (situation),” he said. “It’s that together, we’re much better.”
If AIMCo clients are dissatisfied, they can inform the Crown’s board, and the board can fire him, Uebelein said.
The government will not say when it intends to introduce legislation to enact the changes.
A few of the comments:
Null Null
This is government dictatorship control. ATRF’s returns on investment have often exceeded benchmarks and AIMCo results. The most recent 6-year return for ATRF was 9.5% while a comparable AIMCo managed pension fund only produced a return of 8.0%. Those returns are after management costs are paid! The PC gov’t is stealing teachers’ money as a bargaining tool for contracts & for their own agendas.
Ed Henderson
At present the Teachers fund is managed by very qualified people who’s every interest and priority is to properly manage the funds for the Teachers. It appears they have been very successful.
A switch over to AIMCo management would change all that. AIMCo would manage the funds for the people who appointed them, Politicians.
James Ozon
It all sounds a bit fishy. The AIMCo Board of Directors are political appointees.
“…the Board sets the strategic direction of the Corporation and oversees the development and implementation of policies and procedures that govern the day-to-day conduct of AIMCo’s business.”
Would Jason Kenney try and influence the direction of the Board to invest in oil industry stock to bump up the value to his base supporters?
Null Null
ATRF’s returns on investment have often exceeded benchmarks and AIMCo results. The most recent 6-year return for ATRF was 9.5% while a comparable AIMCo managed pension fund only produced a return of 8.0%. Those returns are after management costs are paid. This is stealing from teachers. Hands off.
Also, teachers have had joint governance over their pension plan for 80 years. Currently, they occupy half the seats on the board of ATRF in order to recognise their 50% share of the contributions. Individual teachers contribute half of the money that funds the plan and under this proposal, the money held in trust for their retirement would be managed by investment managers that aren’t accountable to them
****
Refer also to:
Kenney warns Albertans to brace for major cuts while giving massive tax cuts to rich corporations. CitizenWhoPaysTaxes: “Mom… how come we can’t have any nice things? Shut up son and wave to the nice Mr Kenney.”
Kenney’s $4.5 billion in corporate tax cuts obviously not enough to feed the greed.
The orchestrated fraud & corporate welfare stench grows! Alberta municipalities abused by Petro-Pussy Premier Jason Kenney (Steve Harper/Koch Bros spawn?) to feed industry’s insatiable greed “now own what they voted for!”
Alberta: More corporate welfare stench! 65,000 shallow gas wells qualify to get more than $23M in freebies from taxpayers. Again, not a penny for Albertans suffering frac quake damages, drinking water loss/contamination, health harm, loss of livestock etc.
Alberta increasing Oilpatch Welfare while enabling more harms and pollution and hundreds of $Billions in liabilities. Red Deer County caves, slashes taxes for shallow gas producers, gives zero tax relief for frac’d water well owners and farms. Where will the $5 Million shortfall come from? Why not from Kenney’s $30 Million Oilpatch Pimping Propaganda Room?
Jason Kenney gives multi-billion dollar profiting companies a taxpayer-funded war room to abuse citizens concerned about industry’s rampant life-threatening pollution: Suncor tarsands revenue up from $11.2 to $12 billion between 2017 and 2018 when companies whined about how hard it was to operate in Canada; CNRL boosted its revenue from $7.1 to $11.5 billion
“A Murderer’s Row: Maturities are coming year after year.” Bankruptcies rising in U.S. oil patch as Wall Street’s disaffection with frac’ers reverberates through industry. 26 producers file for bankruptcy so far in 2019; 28 filed in all of 2018. Bankruptcies expected to rise, “Debt levels are just too high and they’re going to have to take their medicine.”
Fracked oil & natural gas have been financial disasters. “Cash flows from fracking-focused oil and gas companies across the US have been negative for decades — even when oil and gas prices were higher than they are now.”
The growing problem of oil and gas companies not paying taxes or landowners, Local governments raise tax rates to make up for millions of dollars in unpaid bills by energy sector by Kyle Bakx, May 6, 2019, CBC News
Months before its demise, Trident Exploration made a plea to landowners to accept half of the payment it had promised to have the company’s natural gas wells on rural properties throughout Alberta.
The Calgary-based firm explained it was in dire financial straits and needed help to stay afloat.
Many of the landowners (mostly farmers) rejected the idea and still wanted full compensation.
In March, the natural gas company cut the payments anyway and said in a letter “we had a disappointing response to that request.”
The letter by Trident’s chairman and interim CEO Darren O’Brien painted a picture of the company’s problems:
Trident is under severe financial strains resulting from several factors beyond its direct control. A few of these factors include [the real reason, the company’s greed and lack of financial planning] (1) the ongoing and unprecedented low price of natural gas, (2) extremely high rural municipality taxes, (3) the high cost of operations, and (4) costs of surface lease rentals. As a result, every possible effort is being made to keep the company financially viable through these difficult times.
Less than two months later, the company ceased operations.
When a company is forced to shut its doors, there are unique circumstances related to its assets and operations, among other factors. However, broadly speaking, it’s been a common occurrence for oil and gas companies in Western Canada to fail since the oil price crash in 2014. [It’s been a common occurrence throughout the history of the oil and gas industry. It’s how companies walk from their environmental and financial obligations, or in simpler terms, take the profits and run, all enabled by federal and provincial politicians and regulators]
Since [long before] then, dozens — if not hundreds — of companies have gone bust. And many rural Alberta residents say problems associated with the industry are getting worse as municipalities struggle to collect taxes and landowners often go unpaid for allowing companies to operate on their property. The situation underscores how many people are affected by the struggles of the oilpatch, even if they aren’t employed in the sector.
While the majority of energy companies fulfil their financial obligations, those that don’t are having a significant impact.
‘We are making progress’: Fort McMurray still rebuilding 3 years after devastating wildfire
The Rural Municipalities Association (RMA) asked all of the 69 counties in Alberta how much money they failed to collect from the energy sector last year. Fifty-four responded with a collective total of more than $81 million.
Foothills County around Okotoks in Southern Alberta said it’s still owed $698,800, while Wood Buffalo around Fort McMurray has $14.5 million outstanding, according to the RMA.
Woodlands County, northwest of Edmonton, is short $4.3 million and the amount of unpaid taxes is about 22 per cent of the municipalities’ total tax levy and budgeted revenue for 2018.
The local government said the oil and gas sector’s failure to pay taxes could potentially have an impact on the “county’s viability and sustainability,” according to a news release in February.
The problem is also affecting municipalities in Saskatchewan.
“It’s an issue that is not going away,” said Al Kemmere, president of the RMA and elected councillor of Mountain View County, just north of Calgary.
‘It’s just a headache’
Bankrupt companies aren’t the only problem for local governments.
“Now, companies that are operating and continue to operate — are not paying their taxes, which makes it much more difficult to deal with from a collections point of view,” said Kemmere, who is advocating for policy changes with Alberta’s provincial government to help improve the situation.
Residents and business owners often have to bear the brunt of the energy sector’s failure to pay, since municipalities may increase taxes on everyone else to recoup funds, said Kemmere. [That’s the capitalist way]
Even when municipalities can’t collect taxes, they still have to pay the education portion of the taxes to the provincial government.
Landowners with oil and gas wells on their properties are still able to collect unpaid money from private companies, if they have the patience to go through a cumbersome process with the provincial government.
A farmer can apply to the province’s surface rights board to be paid. However, those landowners have to file individual paperwork for each oil and gas well on their property.
“I have some landowners with 50 or 60 leases, said Daryl Bennett, a landowner advocate in southern Alberta. “They have to make an application for every lease, every year. It’s just a headache.” [Of course it is. Intentionally set up this way to make sure most landowners don’t apply. Or apply once, then give up.]
A typical payment for one natural gas well can be about $4,000 a year.
‘Lengthy delays’
Under Alberta law, landowners can’t refuse companies wanting to develop oil and gas below the surface of their land.
Bennett said landowners have to wait more than a year right now to get paid — and the surface rights board has a backlog of 2,700 files that they are hoping to clear by next winter.
“A lot of landowners don’t even know they can apply to the board,” he said. “Due to the lengthy delays, most landowners aren’t even bothering.”
The fact companies are breaking their lease agreements in the first place is a growing frustration for landowners because the problem doesn’t seem to improve.
“A lot of them are just getting really ticked off,” said Bennett. [But, talk to ripped off landowners, many want more leases!]
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents most oil and gas companies in the country, declined an interview request and said it was “unable to share any insight into this issue.” [Why would CAPP comment? They continue to rake in big dollars from companies, while landowners and municipalities get nothing]
Are you a landowner with unpaid surface rental payments?
Some excellent comments, notably by landowner and small farmer by Didsbury Alberta, mother of two, Diana Daunheimer
Laine Vos
32 minutes ago
Reply to @Jerome Blake: We were rural landowners who came under the rule of the oil and gas sector. We soon found out that they could operate with impunity. Not only did we experience the dictating, but we had to put up with light pollution, noise pollution, workers thowing garbage out at the roadsides, workers driving like hell on the local roads and not slowing down, us getting exposed to toxins from nearby flaring and getting headaches and making asthma worse…. We, and some neighbours, balked at having a sour gas facility close by, but another neighbour about 4 km offered it on thei land. The couple involved both developed severe illnesses, and one has since died from a brain tumor. Sour gas attacks the central nervous system and young folks who have been stricken with mulitple sclerosis have directly blamed it on low dose sour gas emissions. And, and an acquaintance of ours from the Peace River area, had a niece who developed a brain tumor. The doctors at the Edmonton Cancer Clinic told the family that the tumor was specific to exposure to sour gas. In this regard, the industry, and governments, could give a coitus about us.
Bert Van
Reply to @Laine Vos: That is interesting when you consider the Ludwig case. I also know two people from the Area with brain tumours and one died early.
Al Millar
CAPP , ” declined an interview ” saying it is ” unable to share any insight into this issue “. CAPP has no problem making comments every other time but when they fail to escape scrutiny they lack the guts to be interviewed . CAPP is not Canada’s friend and this lobby organization is absolutely not operating with the interests of anyone but , their own goal to enrich their members.
John Darling
Imagine the 40 years under con rule, if you would have started investing in green tech then.
Now you say you need the fossil fuel so you can invest now….
Short sighted greed……
Sue Black
Taxes for multinationals?Not in the age of corporatism. Obscene billionaires pay NO tax while those in extreme poverty are whacked with consumption taxes
Ian Chamberlain
Reply to @Matt Astell: If they were raking in $billions, hundreds wouldn’t be going bankrupt.
Rosco Holt
Reply to @Ian Chamberlain: Some just declare bankruptcy and leave, not wanting to pay for clean up cost..
John Reed
All other oil producing countries are humming along just fine. Why can’t Canada get it’s stuff together and create policies that get this industry in Canada back on track?
Diana Daunheimer
Reply to @John Reed:
In the past four years alone, over $35 billion in subsidies to the industry have been implemented in Alberta. This does not include the fact that the industry pays almost no fees in enforcement fines, no money to public health or environmental damages, gets their water for free and gets to use our airsheds and land as dumping grounds for indsutry waste, also for free. They also have sweeping exemptions for carbon costs and a deduction scheme built into the MRR. The NDP decreased royalties to the lowest in the history of the province and subsidized more than any PC government and still the industry is incapable of staying solvent? I think it’s time to address what is wrong with their business model, not federal policies.
$26 billion to NWUpgrader, nearly one million per day is being paid by Albertans since June 2018, because the plant is not operational, but payments are due.
$2.6 billion to Keystone XL
$2 billion for upgrading bitumen
$1 billion plus for petrochemical startups
$1.6 billion average per year in Crown Royalty Reductions
$1 billion in emerging/marginal plays, MRR RMC carbon cost deductions and other incentive programs
$1+ billion for bitumen rail cars
$400 million in CCIR payments for innovation
$235 million for OWF
$50 million for Education Property Tax relief resulting from oil and gas linear defaults
$400+ million from AIMCO for funding nearly insolvent operators such as Calfrac and Perpetual
$160 million/year for otherwise flared solution gas royalty reduction
$250,000 per facility, per year for methane emissions reductions
$1 million just announced in clear fuel exemptions for drilling
$60-260 billion in unsecured oil, gas, bitumen and coal liabilities and over $9 billion in oil and gas debt held by ATB
Jonas Prince
Meanwhile Norway’s “Oil Fund” surpasses 1 trillion! And It’s dumping it’s “oil stocks”
Andrew Lamoureux
You can bet conservative governments won’t have the backbone to tax oil companies. And they call this good fiscal management.
Diana Daunheimer
How can you write an article on this issue Mr. Bakx, yet fail to mention the Property Education Requistion Credit (PERC) program, implemented by the NDP, in response to delinquent oil and gas operators? Is it that readers would be even more outraged to learn that up to $50 million dollars is being taken from the Education Tax Fund, to compensate municipalities for their losses?
As for CAPP, Canadians should lobby to have them abolished. Industry operators do not have sufficient funding to pay for municipal taxes, surface lease payments, or for their hundreds of billions in liable assets, but can still afford to pay $4.64 per boe for membership with CAPP? Not to mention the tens of millions more each year, supporting an additional 200 industry groups, controlled oppostion eNGOs (examples, Pembina and Alberta EcoTrust) and the complex network of Synergy Alberta members. Governments should mandate that industry funding spent on lobbying, synergy and disingeneous stakeholder relations, is directed towards defaults and liabilties…instead of taking it from our children’s education fund.
Additional measures that need immediate attention:
Implement enforced timelines for reclamation and remediation of inactive and abandoned assets.
Increase the contributions to the OWF to a minimum of $100 million per year.
Update the AER LLR program to reflect true cost of liabilites and true value of assets and
prohibit the sale, transfer or licensing approvals to any operator with an LLR rating under 2.0.
Rewrite REDA so that the AER has a public interest and public health mandate, and are legally responsible for their regulatory actions or inactions.
Maybe crack down on the number of wholly owned subsidiaries operators use in the Bahamas etc, as tax havens.
John Hamr
Reply to @Diana Daunheimer: Two thumbs up! Network should have you write the article, not this little avocado toast eating ,Uber riding credit karma kid.
Kath Ayres
Reply to @Diana Daunheimer: “Up to $50 million dollars is being taken from the Education Tax Fund, to compensate municipalities for their losses.” Bad source to take money from, obviously, but reports say that Alberta actually needs $Billions to clean up their delinquent sites. … [KENNEY HAPPY TO STEAL FROM TEACHERS TO FUND THE CLEAN UP?]
Diana Daunheimer
Reply to @Kath Ayres: Thanks, yes, I know Mark Doiron, was in fact offered a position to work with this group on these issues, however, I declined because in my past 10+ years of interacting and seeking mitigation and solutions with the GoA, AER, APEGA, Alberta Health, eNGOs, Synergy Alberta, CAPP, the AUMA and the RMC (Kemmere is one of our local councillors), I view the situation as unredeemable, especially with Kenney now in power. I have met with Jason Nixon and Nathan Cooper, they will not provide solutions, but will only continue to pander to corporate pressures and interests, and give rise to more collusion and corruption. « less
Kath Ayres
Reply to @Diana Daunheimer: The alberta NDP would not have got in if they had been the NDP I know and have respected. Just goes to show that too much compromise, especially regarding industry and environment, only delays the inevitable tragic losses and contributes to public cynicism.
Diana Daunheimer
Reply to @Kath Ayres: Absolutely, the NDP capitalized on voter disdain for the status quo and created a platform of promises they likely never meant to keep regarding the industry in Alberta. Notley assured “fair share” of publically owned resources, a review of the mandate of the AER, increased environmental monitoring, a review of fracking and urban drilling and a robust climate plan.
Instead, once elected Notley decreased royalties to a historic low, quietly endorsed the AER which operates with no public interest or public health mandate, used backbenchers to push the review of fracking off the NDP AGM agenda, completely ignored urban drilling and the impacts resulting from, such as the 4.6 induced seismic event from fracking south of Red Deer, and gave the province a greenwashed climate plan and fraudulent fuel tax, dressed up as a carbon levy, along with sweeping exemptions, allowances, deductions and incentives for industry, resulting in no meaningful emissions reductions to date.
As I previously wrote to Notley, it’s remorseful how her government handled the energy industry in the province and perhaps it will weigh on their conscience as they witness the continued degradation of the environment and fiscal sustainability in the province. Expect their virtues to come raging back as leaders of the opposition, but don’t expect to see any material action. The NDP have proven to be the status quo and them some.
Bob Johnson
So let me get this straight.
We subsidize the industry for billions each year.
Offer the oil and resources for virtually free
They drill wherever they want, with ability to move onto anyone’s land.
The wells that are not profitable, they simple abandon in numbered companies, and walk away from the environmental disaster, leaving Canadians on the hook to pay upwards of 70 billion.
The wells that are profitable, they sit back and rake in the dough, but don’t pay taxes or land owners.
Norway has a much better model !
Gary McGarry
Reply to @Bob Johnson: You pretty much nailed it.
Andy Bonn
Oil companies get away with murder.
Bob Prowse
It’s OK…. Alberta has the Heritage Trust Fund to pay for the clean-up ?
Ooops, I forgot, the Alberta Conservatives STOPPED contributing to that way back in the 90’s because the Oil Patch thought the royalties were too high….. so it’s BROKE too !
Bob Prowse
The legacy after 40+ years of Alberta Conservative Gov’ts failed energy policies, where shareholder profits through an “all hogs to the trough” business model prevailed.
Alberta Cons squandered the resource revenues in the good times with NO foresight, now Albertan’s are left with the Bills to cleanup in the bad times.
Nick Danger
Nothing quite like the taxpayer subsidizing of a multi billion dollar, totally for profit business. Big Oil is lauging at Albertan suckers all the way to the banks along with their new BFF, Jason.
Eileen Kinley
And Kenney wants municipalities to lower property taxes for oil and gas companies.
…
Kenney said his government has more work to do in reviewing the Supreme Court’s decision before identifying how it can assist companies with compliance. He also said his government would be meeting with municipalities to raise concerns identified by Trident about high property taxes.
“There are a number of small and junior gas producers in Alberta that are running down their balance sheets, almost giving away their natural gas, because of market asset challenges,” he said.
“They simply can’t afford higher and higher municipal taxes in addition to the uncertainty created by the Redwater decision.”
John Watson
Reply to @Eileen Kinley: Yup, the O&G sector of Alberta got themselves the best government money can buy.
Allan Paakkola
Corporate welfare is a burden on us taxpayers.
Garth Peter
Reply to @Allan Paakkola: Going to get a lot worse,with Jason
Michael Klym
Shareholders before taxpayers and land owners. Corporatism at it’s best.
Roy Kirk
Reply to @Michael Klym: . . . and executives before shareholders!
Mike Poska
And one of kenney’s election promises is to deregulate the oil and gas industry even more and cut the corporate tax rate from 12% to 8%. But I guess if they aren’t paying their share of taxes what difference does a tax rate cut mean.
Sonny Williams
The oil industry is well known for always pointing fingers at others re any problems they may encounter. How many times have we been assured that transportation of petroleum by pipeline, ship or other carrier is safe? And how many times have we, Canadian citizens, been left holding the bag for massive clean ups and environmental harm? And who will clean up that environmental mess in the tar sands?? Us. We always pay for this industry, and this industry always “puffs out its chest” when things are going well, and always comes whining and teary eyed when things are not going well for them. Bottom line. This industry is doing great harm to our environment, feels it has the right to rip people off, expects special treatment, and overall, feels that Canada somehow owes them something. I suggest they pay their own way, pay their bills, pay their taxes, accept the political and market realities, and if they cannot make it economically, shut down rather that whine and complain constantly. Frankly it is tiresome.
Evan Mulligan
Wha..? Companies not paying their taxes and ripping off landowners? The same companies that are given massive tax breaks and subsidies that individual overtaxed Canadians can only dream of?
Say it ain’t so!
Jordan Talbot
Reply to @Evan Mulligan: Which tax breaks and subsidies are those chief? Enlighten us.
Brian Cohen
Reply to @Jordan Talbot:
Here you go: https://www.iisd.org/faq/unpacking-canadas-fossil-fuel-subsidies/
Rick Haars
Reply to @Evan Mulligan: Not only oil and gas. All types of big business. Aero, Ins., Auto, etc.
Diana Daunheimer
Reply to @Jordan Talbot:
May I?
Here’s a list of easily referenced subsidies, most announced in the past four years under the NDP in Alberta:
$26 billion to NWUpgrader (nearly a million per day, is being paid by Alberta taxpayers since June 2018, because the upgrader is not yet fully operational but the payments are due)
$2.6 billion to Keystone XL
$2 billion for upgrading bitumen
$1 billion plus, for petrochemical startups
$1.6 billion average per year in Crown Royalty Reductions
$1 billion in emerging/marginal plays, Modernized Royalty Review RMC carbon cost deductions and other incentive programs
$1+ billion announced for rail cars for bitumen transportation
$400 million in CCIR (formerly SGER) payments for innovation
$235 million for Orphan Well Fund
$50 million for Education Property Tax relief resulting from oil and gas linear defaults
$400+ million from AIMCO for funding nearly insolvent operators such as Calfrac and Perpetual, the latter of which is facing a lawsuit from the trustee in the transfer of useless wells to Sequoia, who fell into insolvency.
$160 million/year for otherwise flared solution gas royalty reduction
$250,000 per facility, per year for methane emissions reductions, final amount TBD
$1 million just announced in clear fuel exemptions for drilling
Not to mention the $60-260 billion in unsecured oil, gas, bitumen and coal liabilities and the approx. $9 billion that ATB has on the books in oil and gas debt. Remember it was ATB that filed the Redwater action, trying to limit their poor lending choices to oil and gas by arguing federal BIA legislation trumped provincial polluter pay regulations. Now that ATB can not renounce unproductive assets under their lending, they are stuck with the debt, as was the case with Trident, ATB’s client.
Don Blake
Maybe someone could explain to us regular folk just how we are paying $1.33 a litre at the pumps when a barrel of oil is selling for less than half of what it was when a barrel was $130-$140 a barrel ? If there was ever a time for Canada to go full steam ahead into renewable & green technology ; it is now . Seriously tired of being fleeced by oil companies .
Andrew Lee
And Jason Kenney says Alberta’s Oil & Gas Industry has been treated unfairly by the federal government. I’d say the environment and this planet have been treated unfairly by the Petroleum industry.
Danny Devo
This is the seedy underbelly of Alberta’s O&G cartel. A seething toxic and corrupted cabal, ripping off Canadians at every turn.
Geoffrey May
An industry so evil that it spends billions to mislead people about climate science and climate change, buy politicians, and media , leaving its mess behind should surprise no one, Its what fossil fuels have always been about, destruction and exploitation
Jimmy Harding
“Under Alberta law, landowners can’t refuse companies wanting to develop oil and gas below the surface of their land.”
Wow. The province created a law that you have no right to refuse oil and gas company operation on your own land?? Even when they are not paying up or cleaning up?? And this is in Canada’s supposed “free market” province!
John Oaktree
Reply to @Jimmy Harding: The “right-wing” abandoned property rights long ago. Now they believe that the State has the right to annex your private property anytime it wants if there’s oil to be had… It’s really quite sad to see the “right-wing” become so communist in their view toward property rights.
Mark Shore
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents most oil and gas companies in the country, declined an interview request and said it was “unable to share any insight into this issue.”
‐—————————————-
Orphaned wells, stiffed landowners, environmental damage, and greenhouse gas emissions… “Hey, not our problem! “
Paul Barry
Corporate Welfare is Job #1 in Ameri-Berta……………………….and the guy on the corner with a cup begging for coins is a Calgary Oil Slick executive……………………..parked his Land Rover around the corner
Samuel Hawk
In 1980- NEP- despised by Alberta- The Federal Government, Pierre Trudeau and Marc Lalonde, wanted protection from the oil producers. Uneducated Albertans received their information from the producers and demanded the government to stop. Since that time- nothing and I mean nothing has benefitted Alberta. Today it is haunting the citizens and they still blame the government.
James Holden
Executives of those companies still get their lucrative pay packages but they don’t pay their bills.
Manley Manson
it’s going to get worse before it gets better. fracking is leading to a huge financial bubble of debt.
Craig Macneil
What a mess,refuse to clean up wells and left a 70 billion dollar bill,refused to pay taxes. And this is what Albertans celebrate……Good Grief.
Kelly McMahon
Reply to @Craig Macneil: Global said it could be as high as 260 billion.
Gorden Feist
Like all billionaires, they simply can’t afford it.
Heywood Floyd
CAPP is “unable to share any insight into this issue.” This pretty much sums up CAAP on any issue.
Canada Pension Plan intentionally making $Billion Bad investments in frac’ing?
Why commit to spend a billion to take on $billions in US Oilfield liabilities? Destroy the retirement of hardworking Canadians, burden us with US oilfield’s toxic legacy? Canada Pension Plan arm commits up to $1 billion to buy oil assets in U.S.
Does it get any more terrifying than this? Encana dumping frac water wars on Canadian pensioners? Encana sells troubled Colorado assets for nearly $1 Billion US to entity 95% owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
2016: Meet Alberta’s Radioactive Ranchers: Nielle and Howard Hawkwood. Timing is everything. Why did AIMCo (ATB/Heritage Fund connected) announce $200 Million (bailout?) investment in “Quite leveraged” Calfrac on same day NDP Rural Caucus try to get Nielle Hawkwood’s frac ban resolution on floor of NDP’s Annual Convention?
AIMCo (ATB/Heritage Fund connected) announce $200 Million (bailout?) investment in “Quite leveraged” Calfrac
AIMCo invests $200 million in Calfrac Well Services by Edmonton Journal, June 10, 2016
The Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) announced Friday it’s investing $200 million in Calgary-based hydraulic fracking company Calfrac Well Services Ltd.
AIMCo, which handles $90-billion worth of assets for 31 provincial pension, endowment and government funds, is providing the firm with a $200-million term loan with a nine-per-cent annual interest rate, according to a news release.
In conjunction with the loan, AIMCo has been issued 6.9 million warrants to buy Calfrac common shares for $4.14 each by June 2019.
The shares closed Friday at $3.11, up 38 per cent in the last five days.
Calfrac will use the loan for working capital and general corporate purposes, including repaying all of its current bank debt and the borrowings of Calfrac Well Services (Argentina) S.A.
The company provides specialized oilfield services to exploration and production companies to increase production of hydrocarbons from wells drilled in western Canada, the United States, Russia, Argentina and Mexico.
Some of the comments: [Removed by the Edmonton Journal!]
Peter Mcclure
‘For pensions, endowments and government funds’?
I DO hope this doesn’t mean the government is giving even more subsidies to the energy companies!
Diana Daunheimer (appearing censored by the Edmonton Journal, re not visible to the public unless logged in to Facebook):
AIMCo-George Gosbee on the Board of Directors with affiliations galore- Altacorp, ATB, Acapella, NW Upgrader, of course, he is also an advisor/director/past chairman of the School of Public Policy at the U of C.
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=3206703&privcapId=118322981
When you get into the details of these folks, it’s no wonder they will service the debt and trade shares for Calfrac. The Haskayne School of Business has indoctrination down to an art. Where will the money end up, Barbados, the British Virgin Isle? Where did it come from, the Heritage Fund maybe? Yes, AIMCo manages the Heritage Savings Trust Fund for the province.
Nevertheless, the end game is to hoard the billions they make from unsustainable energy investments that impart huge risk to the environment and untold public health damage. By the time the public is aware they have been used and tossed aside by the likes of AIMCo and our elected officials, these oligarchs are having high tea in London.
http://bcsc.bc.ca/ViewDocument.aspx?DocNum=O7X5L6R6N7NBM7JEK6H4B7GDY7B3
Chesapeake Energy Corporation Teams Up With Bankrupt GasFrac (Calgary) To Test Gelled (with what toxic chemicals?) LNG (Highly Dangerous) Fracking in Ohio
2014: “Quite leveraged” Calfrac doubled capital spending for 2014 to expand in Argentina, Canada and US
2012: Marcellus lawsuits claim pay abuses, including one against Calfrac of Alberta