Key takeaways:
- Sky-high energy prices are causing inflation and affordability issues.
- Fuel prices are at record highs across Canada as oil costs show few signs of slipping.
With so much pain at the gas pumps and the great oil price worldwide, it’s nearly incomprehensible to think a barrel of crude was worthless two years back.
The oil price shortly turned negative in the spring of 2020 after the pandemic impact and travel activity by air, land, and sea ground to a near halt.
Oil remains near multi-year highs, and any sign of weakness or a drop in value has been brief before a rebound in cost.
The oilpatch is now in record earnings and rife in cash after a punishing series of years during the last decade — a period that included stubbornly low costs, widespread layoffs, and expensive pipeline bottlenecks.
“People that have survived and waited out the tougher times are getting rewarded now,” stated Travis Sperling, industrial sales and operations manager with Winters Instruments, specializing in manufacturing force and temperature gauges.
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Prices climbed after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s charge of Ukraine in February sent the market into a frenzy. Initially, many predicted the exorbitant prices wouldn’t last, but embargoes on Russia and recuperating economies are offering crude prices staying power.
“This is a long way from the downturn,” said Hayden Binde, a marketing associate with Montana-based BioSqueeze, concentrating on sealing leaks from oil and gas wells.
Binde was one of the hundreds of people in Calgary last week for the Global Energy Show, a meeting and trade show. Morale is high.
“A lot of businesses that I’ve spoken to [are] busier.
Things have been picking up, so firms are a lot happier,” said Rod Craven, a manager with Pumps and Pressure, based in Red Deer, Alta.
Source – cbc.ca
