ARC ENERGY IDEAS

This week our guests are Mayor Alanna Hnatiw of Sturgeon County (the home of Alberta's Industrial Heartland) and Mayor Don Iveson from the City of Edmonton. Both Mayors are leaders on the Alberta Industrial Heartland Hydrogen Task Force. The group just released a report on the market potential for hydrogen in the region, titled: “Building a Transition Pathway To A Vibrant Hydrogen Economy In...

The US election has been a 'nail-biter' to say the least, with the votes still being counted three days after the election. While still not certain, the odds are now (at time of writing) skewed towards a Biden presidential win with the Republicans keeping control of the Senate. This week our guest is Robert Johnston. RJ leads the energy and natural resources practice at Eurasia Group, a...

Canada’s largest solar farm is coming to Alberta! This week our guest is Dan Balaban, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Greengate Power. Under Dan’s leadership, Greengate has developed $1 billion or 450 MW of producing renewable energy projects in Alberta. His company is currently developing the large Travers Solar Energy project in southern Alberta. Here are some of the questions...

As we woke up Sunday morning, the news was about Cenovus and Husky’s plan to merge and create a new “resilient intergraded energy leader.”  The consolidation wave has been gaining momentum in Canada’s oil patch for some time, but this is the biggest announcement yet. On this week’s episode, Peter and Jackie analyze the drivers for industry consolidation by reviewing ARC’s Fiscal Pulse of the Canad...

This week’s guest is Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and authority on everything energy. We discuss Dan’s new book “ The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.” Here are some of the questions that Peter and Jackie asked him: How has the US shale revolution changed the global energy order? Is the geopolitics of oil a non-issue now? What is the growing conflict between...

On this week’s episode we discuss Alberta’s recently released “Natural Gas Vision and Strategy” that outlines petrochemicals, LNG, hydrogen, and plastic recycling as priorities for the government. We also talk about the province’s announcement around developing geothermal regulation. Next up, we consider the implications to lending and investing now that some banks are targeting net-zero emissions...

When it comes to energy, Alberta is most known for its large oil and gas industry. However, the province also has emerging new energy potential, including blue hydrogen, geothermal, minerals and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Alberta’s Energy Minister, the Honourable Sonya Savage, joined the podcast this week. Here are some of the questions we asked her: How are companies coping with the oil ma...

We start this week’s podcast talking about the Energyphile Vignette “Decarbonization Lessons from Edison.” Thomas Edison’s strategy for electrification provides learnings for today’s energy transition. We also cover recent energy headlines: BP’s prediction that oil demand will peak soon. California’s summer power blackouts and the state's pledge to ban the sale of new combustion vehicles by 2...

This week our guest is Duncan Van Bergen, Vice President of Nature Based Solutions for Royal Dutch Shell. What exactly are nature-based solutions?  Duncan explains how Shell is harnessing nature to help achieve Shell’s ambitious GHG emission reduction targets. We learned that nature is a powerful weapon in the flight against climate change. Here are some of the questions that Peter and Jackie aske...

A recently published Transition Accelerator report suggests that hydrogen could represent a $C 100 billion per year economic opportunity for Canada. This week our guests are Dan Wicklum, President and CEO of the Transition Accelerator and David Layzell, Research Director at the Transition Accelerator, Professor and Director, Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR), University of Calgary....

This week we have a special guest,  Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA.  Dr. Birol provides his global energy perspectives, both on the current situation with the pandemic and how the future may unfold. Here are some of the questions that Peter and Jackie asked him:  Has oil demand peaked?  Does the pandemic speed up or slow down the transition to cleaner energy?  Are you optimistic that t...

Saskatchewan has an abundance of natural resources. The province is already well known for the production of oil, natural gas and uranium. It soon could be known for extracting hydrogen, helium, lithium and other elements across the periodic table. On this week’s episode, the Honourable Bronwyn Eyre gives us an update on Saskatchewan’s established and emerging resource sectors. Peter and Jackie co...

North American pipelines are being canceled, delayed and threatened to shut down. Producers are announcing tens of billions of dollars in asset write-downs, and supermajor BP has declared they will reduce oil and gas production and become an integrated low carbon energy company. This week’s episode we discuss: Does the recent news bolster the oil and gas divestment movement’s stranded asset argume...

A pandemic can accelerate change. Take for instance the rapid adoption of video meetings like Zoom.  Could COVID-19 also change the trajectory for oil demand? On this week’s episode, we consider the potential for an oil price spike caused by a lack of new capital investment. What if this occurred, just as electric cars were entering a more mature phase for consumer adoption?  Could governments aro...

This week’s podcast is a recording of a live stream conversation that Peter and Jackie hosted on June 22, 2020 with the Honourable Seamus O'Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. Here are some of the questions they asked Minister O’Regan during the one hour interactive session. How can the regionalism and antagonism in the debate around Canadian energy be improved? Why has the uptake...

David Keith is a Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and also of Applied Physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is also a board member at Carbon Engineering . Dr. Keith works at the interface between climate science, energy technology, and public policy. He is best known for his work on solar geoengineering. Here are some of the questions we asked David. How uncert...

North American natural gas producers have had a tough few years and COVID-19 related demand destruction has only made things worse. But could the situation turn around this winter? On this week’s episode we discuss the current state of North American gas markets, including the significant share of continental gas that is a by-product of oil wells. With US oil production set to decline, natural gas...

In 2006, President George W. Bush said America was “addicted to oil” and set a goal to reduce Middle Eastern imports. Over the next decade, technology (not policy) caused a surge of North American oil production. Consequently, the dependence on foreign oil was diminished. But now North American production is set to decline.  On this week’s episode, we consider what actions US policy makers could t...

Some Canadian Federal politicians are claiming that oil is dead, never to return from the COVID-19 demand collapse. Instead, oil is alive and kicking. It is reminiscent of the famous Monty Python plague scene when someone tries to drop off a live body.  With half of the world’s population under lockdown, oil consumption fell just 30 percent. Now, with restrictions lifting, demand is bouncing back....

On this week’s podcast we interview Marty Procter, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Seven Generations Energy (7G). He reflects on the evolution of the firms ESG culture and communication, from the early days to the new supply agreement 7G was awarded because they were certified as a responsible energy supplier. 7G has been recognized for their ESG leadership, receiving a high rat...

What is happening in the oilfields of the world as a result of the COVID pandemic? To what extent is the oilfield service industry being decimated from this downturn?  Post-pandemic, how will the industry change? These are just some of the questions we asked Kevin Neveu, President and Chief Executive Officer at Precision Drilling, a leading provider of services to the oil and gas industry. To lear...

First, we review Michael Moore’s new movie “Planet of the Humans.” The film casts doubt on the green credentials of renewable energy by exposing upstream environmental impacts.  What did the documentary get right? What parts of the narrative were incomplete? The movie highlights unsustainable trends including population growth and humankind’s thirst for energy, but are there solutions? We also rev...

Have you ever seen anything so severe in your 30 plus year energy career? How far could US oil production fall? What could the post-COVID oil demand recovery look like? The oil and gas sector was already on wobbly ground with investors prior to Coronavirus, will they come back now? These are just some of the questions we asked Bobby Tudor, the Co-Head of the advisory business of Perella Weinberg P...

There are many ways society changes and adapts after major crises, such as wars, geopolitical events, economic recessions, environmental disasters and, of course, pandemics. What is the future of energy systems after COVID-19? Will the climate agenda be hindered, or will it roar back with even more vigour? We also cover the historic OPEC Plus production cut agreement made over the Easter long week...

The pain of rock bottom oil prices has become so great that Saudi Arabia, Russia and other OPEC and non-OPEC producers, including potentially the United States and Canada, are considering a coordinated supply cut.  Could an agreement be struck?  Longer term, should oil producers continue to rely on the 60 year old cartel to prop up price? If a OPEC-Plus cut agreement is not made soon, will the Uni...