Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the province is easing mandatory oil production cuts as the value of oil increases. CALGARY – The Alberta government will allow oil companies in the province to pump an additional 75,000 barrels of crude next month, easing a curtailment order that has cut the province’s total oil output amid a pipeline shortage. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but this temporary measure is working,” Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Wednesday afternoon, announcing that a glut of oil in storage in the province had been mostly cleared. The province will now allow producers to pump a total of 3.63 million barrels per day beginning in February and through March — representing an increase of 75,000 barrels per day or, 2 per cent, from the 3.56 million bpd production limit from January. Notley’s government announced in December that oil companies would have to cut back their production by 325,000 bpd at a time that Western Canada Select oil prices were trading at record-setting price discounts of US$50 per barrel relative to the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate. Since the curtailment order, the amount of oil in storage tanks in Alberta has declined by 5 million […]
