March 2013 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

University of Calgary proposed development west of campus land takes another step forward




CALGARY ` The West Campus Development Trust is taking another major step in the process of creating a detailed master plan for a massive project on University of Calgary land near the Alberta Children`s Hospital.




`Public engagement` sessions are planned for Wednesday and Thursday where a more detailed concept will be presented at open houses.





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[Ally]

Alberta employment continues to rise





CALGARY ` Employment continued to rise in Alberta in February keeping the province`s unemployment rate at 4.5 per cent ` the second lowest in the country behind Saskatchewan`s 3.8 per cent.




`Job growth surged across the country in February defying even the most optimistic forecasts,` said Jacqueline Palladini, economist with the Conference Board of Canada.




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[Ally]

Securing new oil markets 'job one' for Alberta




Securing new markets for growing bitumen production has become "job one" for the cash-strapped Alberta government. And in a budget dominated by deficits and spending cuts, the province put its money where its mouth is. The government announced it budgeted an additional $5 million to "strengthen Alberta's presence" in key oil markets in Asia and the United States.




The aim is to "break bitumen barriers" that created a 30 per cent discount on Canadian heavy oil prices and has translated into a $6 billion revenue shortfall for the government, which is forecasting a sixth consecutive budget deficit.





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[Ally]

Fracking deal struck between industry, environmentalists




After years of clashing over hydraulic fracturing, the oil industry and environmentalists have achieved something extraordinary in Illinois: They sat down together to draft regulations both sides could live with.




If approved by lawmakers, participants say, the rules would be the strictest in the United States.



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[Ally]

Industrial and commercial land sales in Edmonton at peak levels in 2012




Total sales of commercial and industrial land and buildings in Edmonton during 2012 was the highest in five years, according to a report released Friday.




There were 648 sales last year with a total value of $2.45 billion, just off the five-year high reached in 2011, said the Realtors Association of Edmonton commercial division in its inaugural semi-annual update on land and building sales activity.





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[Ally]

Bitumen bubble may be more stubborn than finance minister admits




EDMONTON - Don`t blame Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner for Alberta`s growing gusher of red ink. If this was a more rational, less blindered province, we`d have a provincial sales tax, and no deficit. Problem solved.




Sure, we`d scream and argue about the magnitude of the tax, and how much cost-cutting should be inflicted before it was imposed. But in the end we`d act like grownups. We wouldn`t dodge reality. There would be a sales tax, just like everywhere else.





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[Ally]

Calgary company says it's working on an upgrade to bitument upgraders




EDMONTON - When it comes to upgrading Alberta`s vast supply of bitumen, Ivanhoe Energy is out to prove small is beautiful ` and profitable.




The Calgary-based oil company has new technology ready for its proposed steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) project near Fort McMurray that would partially upgrade bitumen right near the well site ` just enough so it will flow into regular pipelines and could be shipped directly to a refinery.





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[Ally]

Railway giant considers switch to natural gas




The railroad industry could soon see a major transition in how trains are powered, the biggest since steam-engines gave way to diesel-powered engines.






The Wall Street Journal reports that BNSF, the largest railway in the United States, is considering a switch to natural gas. The company plans to begin testing locomotives powered by natural gas this fall. If the tests go well more locomotive could be retrofit to run on natural gas a year later.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Calgary listed as an "out-performer" in Canadian real estate market




CALGARY ` Canada is expected to embark on a gradual, modest, downward housing market adjustment over the next three years with a `measly` two per cent annual price gain over the next decade, says a study released Monday by TD Economics.




But the bank has also listed Calgary as an `out-performer` in Canada for the long-run rate of return on Canadian real estate. Compared with the national picture, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto were also listed as out-performers for the future.





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[Ally]

Home building in balance




T







here are many words used to describe the Canadian housing sector at the moment, including `bubble,` `overheated` and `dangerous.` Most of those worrisome terms are in reference to residential markets in Toronto and Vancouver. But here in Alberta, the best word to describe the housing market is: balanced.





In February, home builders started construction on 33,337 new houses throughout our province. This figure is seasonally adjusted and reported at annualized rates (i.e., the number of homes that would be built in one calendaryear if the current pace continues for 12 months). That`s up from the 29,300 total in January, and mostly on par with activity over the last year.







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[Ally]

Kinder Morgan's pipeline ambitions on west coast raise oil tanker concerns




VANCOUVER ` An inky-blue dawn breaks across Burrard Inlet as the oil tanker British Beech glides into view.





On the bridge of the tugboat Raven, captain Don Westmoreland, 59, peers at a video monitor that registers the vessel`s bearing and speed. `That`s our ship right there,` he says. Two 2,500-horsepower engines barely gurgle as the Raven tethers to the tanker`s stern for the trip under Second Narrows Bridge.





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[Ally]

'Leading by example' and the Keystone pipeline






While many have long seen America as the global bad boy, everybody likes Canada. If Uncle Sam tucks his pack of Marlboros under his T-shirt sleeve and plays by his own rules, the Canadian moose ` or whatever their Uncle Sam equivalent is ` always wears his blue blazer and school tie and does his chores without being asked. Canada is a global citizen, a good neighbor, a northern Puerto Rico with an EU sensibility that earns its gold stars from the United Nations every day.





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[Ally]

At North America's refining hub, a thirst for Keystone




The cherry-red crane looms emphatically over the grey industrial landscape of the Houston shipping channel where a refinery processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products.




Dutch-owned LyondellBasell NV is using the behemoth ` billed as the second-largest crane in the world at 175 metres tall ` in the overhaul of one of its two cokers, a refinery unit that is critical for the processing of heavy crude like Alberta`s oil sands bitumen.



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[Ally]

Make or break time for Suncor's Voyageur upgrader project




The fate of Suncor Energy Inc.`s Voyageur upgrader will be made public within days, but with rapidly expanding North American oil supplies challenging the viability of major oil sands projects, the prospects for the $11.6-billion upgrader are looking increasingly grim.




The foreboding mood around the massive Voyageur project was compounded Thursday when Suncor`s chief financial officer Bart Demosky mused about other potential ventures the oil sands giant could focus on if the planned upgrader ` which was expect to produce 218,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day when complete ` was cancelled.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Baird has direct pipeline to Keystone XL decision makers




EDMONTON - It`s `all hands on deck` as Canadian officials try to ensure the U.S. approves the long-delayed northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline between Alberta and Nebraska, but Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird isn`t taking anything for granted.




`We have a team in Washington, and it has been the No. 1 priority of our embassy for two years. And we were very pleased that the state department said that Keystone will not have a significant effect on greenhouse gas emissions because the oil will be coming out of the ground` in any event, Baird told an Alberta Enterprise Group luncheon on Friday.





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[Ally]

Oklahoma company plans Edmonton petrochemical feedstock plant





An Oklahoma-based company plans to spend up to $900 million to build a plant that converts Alberta propane into a more valuable product used to make plastics.





Williams says the facility will be the first in Canada to make polymer-grade propylene.







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[Ally]

Alberta economy to continue its impressive boom




CALGARY ` Any dark clouds that are currently hanging over Alberta will clear by 2014, paving the way for strong business and consumer activity, says a report by RBC Economics.




The bank`s latest Provincial Outlook, released Tuesday, said the province`s economy will continue its `impressive boom` through 2013, after leading the country`s economic growth in 2012, despite facing challenges.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Alberta wholesale sales hit $6.5 billion




CALGARY ` Wholesale sales in Alberta climbed to $6.5 billion in January, according to Statistics Canada.




The federal agency reported Tuesday that sales in the province grew by 0.2 per cent from the previous month and they were up 3.4 per cent from a year ago.





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[Ally]

Alberta manufacturing sales balloon




CALGARY ` While Canada experienced a decline in manufacturing sales in January, Alberta saw the sector balloon, reaching $6.3 billion and growth of 6.3 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.




The federal agency reported Tuesday that sales in the province were the largest increase since November 2011. They also led the nation in growth.





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[Ally]

Gas price rally is something to bark about




Natural gas prices appear to be waking up from their two-year coma. The revival, though still nascent, is a welcome signal for cash-starved producers. But will the rally sustain? Recent indicators are positive ` consumption is at a record level, production is relatively flat and storage levels are on a downward trend ` so there is good chance that some momentum will carry through summer and beyond.



Read the full article here.