How NOT to Fix Alberta’s Hurting Jobs Economy | The Tyee
Contrary to what you might have heard, Alberta’s current economic
malaise has little to do with government policies or “foreign-funded”
environmentalists. The real problem is that the global oil and gas
sector is in the midst of a fundamental transformation.
malaise has little to do with government policies or “foreign-funded”
environmentalists. The real problem is that the global oil and gas
sector is in the midst of a fundamental transformation.
The first dimension of this transformation
has to do with the United States. As a result of the fracking boom, U.S.
oil production has more than doubled in 10 years, turning the U.S. into
the world’s largest oil producer, surpassing both Saudi Arabia and
Russia. This change has upset the world’s oil supply-demand balance,
creating global supply gluts which have driven prices down and led to
investment cuts and job cuts in all oil-producing jurisdictions around
the world, including the U.S. itself. It has also allowed the U.S. (the
world’s biggest oil market and Alberta’s biggest customer) to become
more self-sufficient — a change that undermines Alberta’s business
model.