Storage tanks in the primary extraction plant at the Fort Hills oilsands project on Monday, September 10, 2018. Vincent McDermott/Fort McMurray Today/Postmedia Network Fort McMurray’s political leadership is supporting Premier Rachel Notley’s weekend announcement that oilsands production would be restricted in the face of the current oil price crisis, arguing the current situation could have been avoided if new pipeline projects had been built. During Monday interviews, UCP MLAs Tany Yao and Laila Goodridge called the Sunday announcement to cut oil production by 8.7 per cent a necessary evil, arguing it would save jobs in the long-term. Producers are making 190,000 raw crude oil and bitumen barrels per day more than can be shipped out of Alberta. Cuts will reduce oversupply by 325,000 bpd, eventually dropping to 95,000 bpd. The plan begins in January and ends Dec. 31, 2019. It is expected to reduce the differential by at least US$4 per barrel relative to where it would have been otherwise. About 25 producers are expected to be impacted by the cuts. UCP Leader Jason Kenney and Alberta Party Stephen Mandel had already made the case for cutting oil production before the NDP announced its plans. “This is a direct […]
