Markham on Energy

EV adoption will be slow, unlikely to reduce oil demand for 50 years or more

Markham on Energy

Earliest new EV battery chemistry available likely to be 2035 or 2040 Q. Why build North American pipelines, expand Texas shale production and the Alberta oil sands, if electric vehicles will replace internal combustion engine cars in a decade or two? A. Because EVs will only make minor inroads into global auto markets by the 2040s or 2050s, […]

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Keystone XL pipeline: New book outlines hard-won lessons from Obama rejection

Markham on Energy

US, Canadian governments must enforce approvals of pipeline projects like Keystone XL – McConaghy Keystone XL is back on the table and that’s good news for the Canadian oil sands industry, says Dennis McConaghy, author of a new book on the controversial pipeline project. And this time around he thinks proponent TransCanada is much better equipped

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Is the fate of the American economy riding on Rick Perry?

Markham on Energy

As US shifts from fossil fuels to renewable energy and electrifies transportation, battery storage becomes critical to economic competitiveness If Rick Perry survives the nomination process to become energy secretary in the Donald Trump Administration, he will become a key player in the evolution of the American economy over the next four or eight years. A heady position

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Trump’s ‘border adjustment tax’ big unknown for Canadian oil and gas

Markham on Energy

Until Congress draws up tax reform legislation, impossible to estimate impact of border adjustment tax The Canadian oil and gas sector – producers, service companies, and manufacturers alike – is wringing its hands at the prospect of an American border adjustment tax, but economists say the concern is premature and could be completely unwarranted. The border

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Christy Clark lands substantial Trans Mountain deal ahead of May election

Markham on Energy

BC government $1 billion fiscal deal for Trans Mountain first of its kind in Canada The BC government issued an Environmental Assessment Certificate for the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline Wednesday, ending almost five years of brilliant political dekeing and feinting by Premier Christy Clark, who had no legal authority to stop the project, but instead managed to stickhandle

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Advice to Alberta oil sands boosters: Let Jane Fonda be, you’ve won this war

Markham on Energy

Oil sands boosters are like Japanese nipponhei, loyally fighting long after the war is over Psst. Alberta oil sands boosters. Stop dissing Hanoi Jane. You’ve already won the bitumen and pipeline war, now you’re being an ungracious winner. Jane Fonda is coming to Alberta on Wednesday to “tour” Fort McMurray and the oil sands, then attend a Greenpeace

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Done right, Alberta energy diversification strategy could actually work

Markham on Energy

Alberta energy diversification should include partial bitumen upgrading, petrochemicals, expansion of oilfield services/manufacturing Economic diversification rarely works. Canadian governments have wasted many billions over the decades, chasing this or that economic flavour of the week that never pans out. But the Alberta government finds itself in the unique position of being able to back an

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