Image: Cenovus Energy A relatively small mandated oil production cut of 200,000 to 300,000 bbls/d would “make a big difference” helping to reverse the dramatic recent drop in the Canadian heavy oil price, says Auspice Capital founder and CEO Tim Pickering. It’s something that every other major global oil producing nation has a mechanism to enact, even the U.S., he added. There’s a hot debate underway on the matter, with upstream focused companies advocating for cuts while integrated operators prefer to wait it out. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the province is considering mandating cuts, while opposition leader Jason Kenney says the market should fix the problem on its own. Pickering says the issue goes beyond the market. “There’s a systemic problem with our situation. The systemic problem is we don’t have the infrastructure, the takeaway and the ability to access more than one buyer,” he told JWN on Tuesday. “We’re the only large producer nation in the world that doesn’t have a mechanism to control production. Even in the United States, the most free economy in the world, they have a mechanism. They have [the ability to] export and they have the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.” The price of […]
