CAGC

By: Frank Atkins, Business in Calgary Magazine Before he became a senator, Mike Duffy was the host of a news television show on the CTV network. I was a guest on that show, and Mr. Duffy asked me a question about equalization. I responded that the system of transfers that we generally refer to as equalization is not consistent with the efficient running of the economy. When Mr. Duffy, asked me why, I responded that equalization was like having your 25-year-old son living in your basement rent-free. There was no incentive to get a job and no incentive to move out and become a productive member of society. Mr. Duffy's reaction was somewhat akin to wondering how someone with so much education could have such weird ideas. I was reminded of this recently, when the government of Nova Scotia officially banned hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. A lot of people think of fracking in the same manner that they think of the oilsands, as dangerous, dirty and generally destroyi...

By banning high-volume fracking, Nova Scotia has bowed to ENGO pressure and hobbled the province's economic future By: Jim Bentein, from Oilweek Magazine Nova Scotia's Liberal government allowed "well-funded anit-fossil fuel groups" to dominate its decision making in choosing to ban high-volume fracking, says the head of an organization that represents conventional and renewable energy producers in the province. The ban, says Barbara Pike, chief executive officer of the Halifax-based Maritimes Energy Association, has cost the province in an anti-business light, a perception that will be almost impossible to overcome. The government has "created the impression that the province isn't open for business," says Pike, whose organization represents some 320 energy producers, from tidal to wind to oil and gas. "If you're developing wind for generating hydro or other forms of energy, you're looking at investing in a place that is business fr...

CAGC Recorder Article by: Mike Doyle Mike Doyle is the President of the CAGC – the Canadian Association of Geophysical Contractors - representing the business interests of the seismic industry within Canada. The CAGC website may be found at www.cagc.ca . Another soft year for crew numbers. Perhaps the recent and upcoming mergers (of seismic companies) signal the bottom of the market for our industry - as in the floor. Canada’s oil exports to the USA continue to grow whereas natural gas needs to find a new market given the saturation of shale gas in the USA. Petronas is pushing the BC Government to announce LNG taxes prior to the end of October 2014 or potentially face ten years of further delay. It is hard to say who will blink first but a positive investment decision would help our market tremendously. As well the USA midterm elections are coming in early November. As usual it is too close to call however a Republican majority in the Senate could force Obama into a m...