An oil rig drilling during Saskatchewan’s winter OTTAWA – The federal government is taking a step Tuesday to help Canada’s battered energy industry. Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies to reach new markets. The announcement is in Alberta, but the funds are available to any oil and gas companies nationwide. Premier Notley has made no secret in recent weeks of her desire to have Ottawa help the province buy new rail cars to ship two additional trains full of Alberta crude out of the province every day. Alberta is already negotiating with an as-yet-unnamed third party to buy the rail cars, but Canada has not indicated any willingness to share the cost of the purchase yet, and rail cars are not part of Tuesday’s announcement. Although the price for Alberta crude has rebounded slightly from a panic-inducing $11 a barrel in late November, it is still trading between $26 and $28, only about half of what Texas oil producers are getting. The difference is costing the Canadian economy an estimated $80 million a day, according to […]
