Alberta UCP leader Jason Kenney posted this image to Twitter earlier this month of him visiting Prostar Well Service in Leduc. The top rival to Alberta’s premier is signalling he doesn’t favour a government-mandated cut in crude oil production as Canadian prices hit a record low, saying he would prefer to see a market-based solution to the problem. Alberta’s heavy crude plunged to a record low Thursday amid a supply glut that has filled pipelines, rail cars and storage facilities. Producers like Cenovus Energy, Nexen and MEG Energy are calling on Premier Rachel Notley to force an across-the-board production cut, while integrated companies like Suncor Energy, Husky Energy and Imperial Oil oppose the idea because it would hurt their refining operations. Notley has damped expectations for a forced cut, but not ruled it out entirely. She has called for more rail cars to ship oil and signalled other steps could be coming. Meanwhile, the crisis is costing her treasury millions of dollars with an election only months away. Polls show she’s on track to lose power to the United Conservative Party, whose leader Jason Kenney signaled Thursday that he doesn’t want her to intervene and cut production. “Obviously a […]
