Essential Oil February 27 2015

CRUDE OIL FUTURES ARE UP THIS MORNING but contrary to the aphorism, this rising tide hasn't lifted all boats - at least, not equally. Brent crude is trading this morning at over 60 a barrel, on track to post its highest monthly gain since May 2009. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate is still trading in the 49 range, meaning the spread between the North Sea and U.S. blends is now at its greatest disparity since January 2014 as U.S. stockpiles continue to weigh on the WTI price.

IN ALBERTA, ENERGY PRODUCERS ARE PULLING out of oil drilling and are increasingly developing gas reserves instead. The pivot is no doubt a response to oil losing half its value last year. And while natural gas prices fared only marginally better, losing more than one-third of their value along with the oil price slide, the number of gas producing rigs in Alberta nearly doubled to 157 in December, the most for that month since 2010, according to data from the Alberta Energy Regulator. The number of crude oil rigs operating at that time fell by 4.3 per cent to 134, according to the AER.

SASKATCHEWAN IS IN THE CROSS-HAIRS of the latest round of layoffs to target the oilfield services sector. Industry giant Halliburton says it will shutter its Regina office at the end of March, leaving the jobs of an estimated 120 employees in peril. The office, serving southeast Saskatchewan's oil and gas sector, only opened in 2013 and will remain closed at least "until Canadian commodity prices recover," a Halliburton spokesperson said in a statement.

PEMBINA PIPELINE POSTED A RECORD OPERATING MARGIN AND RECORD CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS LAST YEAR. That's according to the Calgary-based company's financial and operating results for 2014, which were published this morning. Calling 2014 "the most successful year in the history of our company," Pembina president and CEO Mick Dilger also noted that Pembina enjoyed a full year without any lost-time injuries or recordable employee injuries of any kind, despite workers clocking 24 per cent more hours in 2014 than in the year prior. Read the full 2014 results and commentary here.

AND, FINALLY, FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TECH GIANT APPLE earlier this month, Google is investing big in solar energy. The Silicon Valley mega-corp is putting 300 million into supporting at least 25,000 residential rooftop power plants, according to SolarCity, the San Mateo, California-based solar panel installer. Google has now committed more than 1.8 billion to renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Just over two weeks ago, Apple announced it would spend 850 million to buy sun power for its stores from First Solar, the biggest U.S. developer of solar farms.

BY THE NUMBERS

MAR-DEC 2015:

USD WTI 56.02

CALENDAR 2016:

USD WTI 62.45

YESTERDAY'S APRIL WCS BASIS RANGE:

(13.75) - (13.25)

YESTERDAY'S APRIL EDMONTON SWEET:

(4.90) - (4.50)

AECO C/GJ SPOT ALBERTA CASH:

2.52

MARCH 15 FINANCIAL/PHYSICAL:

2.57/2.485

MARCH 15-DEC 15:

2.61

CALENDAR 2016:

2.875

*"National Bank of Canada, February 27, 2015."

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