"The North American benchmark price for a barrel of crude has fallen from around $70 US per barrel at the outset of the year to less than $60 US this week."
"The companies that have survived here are the companies that have been able to adapt, said Patrick O'Rourke, the Calgary-based managing director of institutional equity research at ATB Capital Markets. It's effectively Darwinism, in a sense."
"They want to make sure that they are as prepared as possible, said Johnston, author of the Commodity Context newsletter."
North American crude prices have fallen from about $70 to under $60 per barrel after OPEC and allied producers increased output, boosting global supply and reversing earlier production cuts. Crude oil is Canada’s largest export, so price declines reduce revenue for the national economy and particularly for Alberta. Industry consolidation over the past decade left larger, leaner firms focused on cost control and returning money to shareholders, making them less vulnerable to market volatility. Companies on both sides of the border have implemented cuts, including planned layoffs at Imperial Oil and reductions of Canadian staff by ConocoPhillips, as firms shore up balance sheets against possible further price declines.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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