ARC ENERGY IDEAS

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter review developments in the Iran war, which entered its tenth day at the time of recording on the morning of March 9, 2026.  The U.S. reports striking thousands of targets in Iran during the first week of the conflict and damaging or destroying more than 40 Iranian naval vessels. In response, Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have launc...

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran, killing the Supreme Leader along with other senior leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In his initial statements following the attack, President Trump signaled that regime change was a potential objective.  Iran responded aggressively, targeting a range of military, civilian, and energy infrastructure acr...

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada needs to “build at speeds not seen in generations.” More than ten major projects have now been referred to the Major Projects Office (MPO). Assuming that all of the projects move forward in the next few years, will Canada have enough skilled workers to deliver them?  To explore this question, our guest this week is Sean Strickland, Executive Director of C...

This week on the podcast, we’re sharing highlights from a conversation at the 8th Annual Haskayne School of Business PETRONAS International Energy Speaker Series held on February 11, 2026.  Jackie Forrest moderated a sold-out session featuring award-winning author Edward Fishman, whose recent book Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, explores the rise of U.S. geoeconomic str...

This week on the podcast, our guest is Brandon Moffatt, Chief Development Officer at StormFisher Hydrogen. StormFisher Hydrogen develops projects that repurpose energy, water, and power, with a focus on green hydrogen and e-fuels across the North American market. The company is currently advancing a low-carbon methanol project in Varennes, Quebec.  The conversation begins with an overview of green...

This week on the podcast, Peter and Jackie review some of the latest developments in clean energy and the broader energy transition — including a discussion of terminology, with Peter advocating for a return to the older term “alternative energy”.  They begin by discussing Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest “ Energy Transition Investment Trends (2026) ”, which finds that global investment in th...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter are joined by Marcus Rocque, Vice President of Research at the ARC Energy Research Institute. This episode focuses on Canadian federal carbon policy, including a discussion of the carbon pricing policy for large industrial emitters and the recently finalized methane regulations, which target a 75% reduction by 2030 (relative to 2012). The discussion cente...

This week on the podcast, we welcome back Rob West, founder and CEO of Thunder Said Energy.  Founded in 2019, the firm provides research that helps decision-makers identify energy opportunities. Based in Estonia, nine time zones away, Rob is an exceptionally productive energy expert whose work spans a wide range of topics.  We begin by walking through Rob’s Top Ten Themes for Energy in 2026, inclu...

Predicting the Unpredictable: Energy and Geopolitics in 2026  This week, Peter and Jackie kick off the year with their 2026 outlook. They begin by asking a fundamental question: How relevant are predictions in an increasingly unpredictable world?  While acknowledging the limits of forecasting, they outline key themes and directional expectations for 2026—and remind leaders that, in times like thes...

This special episode analyzes the United States’ intervention in Venezuela on January 3, 2026, and explores its broader implications for Canada and the Canadian oil sector.  Peter and Jackie open with a discussion of the geopolitical backdrop and the range of narratives circulating about the U.S. motivations for seizing and arresting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, including effo...

We’re closing out the year with our final podcast of 2025, looking back at the biggest stories and revisiting the predictions we made at the start of the year. How did we do?  2025 delivered volatility and plenty of surprises, along with a long list of developments with real consequences for energy, both clean energy and traditional oil and gas. We cover major policy shifts, including the election...

Canada’s first cargo of LNG set sail from Kitimat, British Columbia, on June 30, 2025. This week on the podcast, Chris Cooper, President and CEO of LNG Canada, joins us to reflect on that milestone, walk through the project’s progress, and share his view of Canada’s long-term LNG opportunity.  Jackie and Peter asked Chris a wide-ranging set of questions, including: What was going through your mind...

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Alberta and the Canadian federal government was signed on November 27, 2025. It declared a shared goal of making Canada a global energy superpower by building one or more privately financed oil pipelines, co-owned with Indigenous Peoples, to ship at least 1 million barrels per day of low-emission Alberta bitumen, prioritizing routes to Asian markets, and...

This week on the podcast, we dig into a new report on renewable growth in Canada, “ Canada’s Renewable Energy Market Outlook 2025 ”, a joint study by Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors and the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA).  To unpack the findings and the broader state of renewables in Canada, we’re joined by Leonard Kula (Vice President of Policy – Eastern Canada and Utility Affair...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter break down the Canadian government’s latest release of nation-building projects. The second tranche includes a major LNG export development, Ksi Lisims LNG, along with a new electricity transmission line in Northwest B.C., three mining projects, and plans for a Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor.  They then turn to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook (WE...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter share their insights on Canada’s 2025 federal budget, released last week and expected to pass on November 17. They also briefly introduce the topic of COP30, which started the day they recorded, and Bill Gates’ recent memo on climate.   They discuss several aspects of the budget, including the size of the deficit and debt, government plans to reduce day-t...

This week on the podcast, our guest is Jason Chee-Aloy, Managing Director at  Power Advisory LLC . The firm provides expert consulting services in the electricity sector across Canada and the United States.  A new report from CanREA and Dunsky forecasts a rapid build-out of new electricity generation across the country. With this growth forecast in mind, Jason shares his insights on several major...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter begin with a roundup of the latest developments in Canadian energy. They start by discussing Prime Minister Carney’s remarks at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, where he suggested that Canada could export up to 50 million tonnes of LNG per year (about 6.5 Bcf/d) by 2030, with the potential to double that by 2040.  They then turn to the upcoming federal budge...

Oil pipeline politics are once again in high gear in Canada. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is advancing plans for a 1 MMB/d pipeline to the West Coast of British Columbia, while B.C. Premier David Eby remains firmly opposed. At the same time, during a recent trip to Washington, Mark Carney and Donald Trump reportedly discussed the potential revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, which, if completed...

Canada must raise its level of ambition to compete in today’s rapidly shifting geoeconomic and geopolitical landscape. So far on the podcast, we’ve focused on how diversifying oil and gas exports can strengthen Canada’s power and influence. This week, we turn our attention to another strategic sector — mining.  Our guest this week is Photinie Koutsavlis, Vice President of Economic Affairs and Clim...

This week, Jackie and Peter discuss Peter’s recent writing, including his article in The Hub titled “Increasing Canada’s Energy Ambition is an Economic and Geopolitical Imperative” as well as two other pieces, “Geoeconomics and State Capitalism” and “The Cost of Being a Market Hostage.”   Peter argues that Canada must raise its level of ambition to compete in today’s geoeconomic and geopolitical e...

This week on the podcast, our guest is Brian Schmidt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tamarack Valley Energy .  Tamarack is a Canadian oil and gas company with operations in Alberta, including the Clearwater and Charlie Lake plays. Brian was also a signatory to a letter, alongside more than 90 leaders from Canadian oil and gas producers, service providers, and midstream companies, sent to P...

This week, our guest is David Nikolejsin, Strategic Advisor at McCarthy Tétrault . David previously served the B.C. government as Deputy Minister for seven years under the Natural Gas Development and Energy and Mines Ministries. He was involved with implementing a successful “one window” approach that helped LNG Canada Phase 1 advance through construction.   In recent weeks, the Canadian federal g...

This week, our guest is Eric Nuttall, Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Ninepoint Partners . Eric manages the Ninepoint Energy Fund (NNRG) and the Ninepoint Energy Income Fund (NRGI).   Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked Eric: How would you compare investing in Canadian oil and gas producers versus U.S. companies?  Do you still believe Canada is undervalued relative to the...

After a summer break, Peter and Jackie are back with their weekly podcast. This week, they catch up on the events and news headlines from the summer, including:  Geoeconomics – recap examples where countries use economic tools to influence foreign affairs – as well as more moves towards state capitalism by the United States, where the government exercises more control over institutions and compani...