Saudi Arabia

Canada's auditor general has called for the federal government to step up its recovery of outstanding student loans to keep taxpayers from being left on the hook after discovering that $2.4 billion in such loans were in default last year.

Billions of dollars in lawsuits will likely result if Joe Biden is elected U.S. president this November and carries out a threat to cancel the presidential permit allowing operation of the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian observers say.

Joe Biden's campaign lobbed a spanner into Alberta's post-pandemic economic recovery strategy on Monday, May 18, 2020, with a promise to rip up U.S. President Donald Trump's approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if the former vice-president succeeds in taking over the White House next year.

The deep downturn in North American oil and gas drilling has resulted in nearly 3,000 fewer employees working for Precision Drilling Corp. now than at the same time last year, its CEO said on Thursday, April 30, 2020.

The Petroleum Services Association of Canada has revised its 2020 Canadian drilling forecast to an almost 50-year record low of 3,100 oil and gas wells, a level not seen since 2,900 wells were drilled in 1972.

A $1.2-billion writedown in the value of its oil and gas assets around the world due to low global commodity prices resulted in a first-quarter net loss of $1.3 billion or $8.42 per share for Vermilion Energy Inc., the energy producer announced on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.

The federal government is rolling out billions of dollars in new financial help targeting hard-hit sectors of the economy, acknowledging that some companies need more support and others are slipping through the safety net of emergency aid meant to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada's oil and gas producers have asked the federal government to freeze the carbon tax and delay new climate change regulations while the industry weathers the storm of COVID-19.

Canadian oil wells will continue to be shut down amid weak global oil prices despite an agreement to limit production struck by OPEC and other major producers on the weekend, producers say.

News that a deal was finalized by OPEC and other oil producing nations to cut production by nearly 10 million barrels per day is being welcomed in Canada, where provinces have suffered drastic revenue losses due to rock-bottom crude prices.

Oil-producing countries including those of the OPEC cartel and Russia are trying to strike a global deal to pump less crude in a bid to limit a crash in prices that, while welcome for consumers, has been straining government budgets and pushed energy companies toward bankruptcy.

Canada's oil producers could only sit and watch as the price of their product plummeted last month to less than what it costs to buy a litre of soda, hit by the double whammy of a COVID-19-induced drop in global demand and a production war between Russia and Saudi Arabia that flooded the market with more oil it didn't need.

Budget cutting in response to the twin challenges of COVID-19 demand destruction and low oil prices mean the world's oil and gas industry will likely spend less on renewable energy going forward.

Oilsands giant Suncor Energy Inc. is putting projects on hold and cutting its 2020 capital budget by 26 per cent to deal with lower oil prices linked to a market share battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as lower demand for fuel because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oilsands giant Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. is joining a lengthening list of oilpatch players who are cutting 2020 capital spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic and plunging oil prices.