ARC ENERGY IDEAS

One uncertainty about how the energy transition will play out is how prevalent battery technology will be in the future.  Today’s lithium-ion batteries work well for short duration utility storage and electric cars, but they are not commercial for some other applications – such as long duration energy storage or heavy hauling.  Also, material supply constraints are increasing the cost of batteries...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter discuss some recent news. First, they talk about the surprise end to summer with the United States passing into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  The IRA includes $369 billion of spending on clean energy and supports the build-out of a clean energy supply chain in the United States and the EV incentives also help  free-trade partners and North Ameri...

In this episode we showcase one of Peter’s Energyphile stories “ Long Way Around .” In the preamble to the story, Peter and Jackie talk about Canadian energy security for oil.  A Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for Canada’s eastern provinces would have helped during the 1970s oil price shocks, but is it still relevant today? Should the Energy East oil pipeline be reconsidered as a way to increas...

This week on the podcast we discuss the Canadian Federal Government’s July 2022 discussion document “ Options to Cut Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Achieve 2030 Goals and Net-Zero by 2050 .”    Joining the discussion is our guest Sander Duncanson , Partner, Regulatory, Environmental, Indigenous and Land at Osler, a Canadian business law firm. There are two policy options being prop...

The final rule for Canada’s Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) was published in the Canada Gazette on July 6, 2022.   By 2030, the rule aims to reduce the emissions for Canadian suppliers of gasoline and diesel by over 15 percent (compared with 2016). This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter talk about the new rule.  While a draft version was published in December 2020, the final rule had some unexpected...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter try a new format discussing and debating a number of recent news headlines, including: Citi Says Oil May Collapse to $65 by the Year-End on Recession (July 5, 2022)  Video of Stuart Kirk, HSBC head of responsible investing at the Financial Times Moral Money Event Video (May 2022) Mining Industry Warns Energy Transition Isn’t Sustainable (July 3, 2022) EV...

Earlier this year Cheniere Energy and ARC Resources announced a new supply agreement to export Canadian gas from an LNG facility located on the US Gulf Coast.  This week on the podcast, Anatol Feygin, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Cheniere and Ryan Berrett, Senior Vice President, Marketing at ARC Resources tell us more about their agreement.  Here are some of the questio...

This week on the podcast we talk about Jackie’s recent op-ed “Blackouts Could Drive a Return to Home Solar” with our guests Gursh Bal and Kai Fahrion, who are the Co-CEO’s of Zeno, a residential home solar solutions provider.  Jackie’s op-ed argues that, while reducing power bills has been the historical reason for installing rooftop solar, the biggest push in the future will come from the increas...

Kiewit is one of North America’s largest construction and engineering organizations.  As such, the company has a unique perspective on the pipeline of new infrastructure projects in the United States and Canada. To get a window into what is on the horizon for large energy infrastructure projects, Kiewit’s Matthew Thomas, Vice President, Carbon Capture and Travis Shearer, Vice President, Markets &a...

In the depths of the COVID pandemic, oilfield activity ground to a halt and service companies were forced to shrink.  While oilfield activity levels have rebounded significantly, they are still below the pre-pandemic peaks.  This week, Steve Glanville, President and Chief Operating Officer of STEP Energy Services and Shawn Martens, Co-Founder, VP of Operations at IronSight join the podcast. Here a...

The broad-based Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF is off 60% from its peak in early 2021.  Riskier stocks on the clean energy spectrum have fallen even more.  For a more in-depth perspective, please see Peter’s commentary titled “What is Next for Clean Tech Companies” that explores how the beat-up equity markets will impact clean energy companies going forward and their strategies.  To start off...

Natural gas price has been climbing to near record highs in North America.  This week, Jackie and Peter talk about the reasons for high natural gas prices now. Longer term, North American gas markets are undergoing a structural change. To reduce their reliance on Russia, EU countries are turning towards new gas suppliers including the United States. Consequently, a US build-out of LNG export capac...

While the Battle of Alberta is front page news, this week Jackie and Peter take a break from hockey and talk about some other game-changing local headlines.   First, they talk about the political change with Premier Jason Kenney announcing that he is stepping down as leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP).   Next, an Alberta court found the Impact Assessment Act (formerly Bill C-69) to be u...

This week Heather Ferguson, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Strategy and Corporate Affairs with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) joins the podcast. OPG burned its last piece of coal in 2014 and has committed to being a net-zero company by 2040.  They have also expanded their generation assets beyond Ontario’s borders into the United States.  Here are some of the questions Peter and Jack...

This week we are delighted to have Stephen Poloz the former Governor of the Bank of Canada.  Stephen was the Bank’s Governor from June 2013 to June 2020 and was at the helm during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stephen just released a new book titled “The Next Age of Uncertainty” that outlines five tectonic forces that, when they interact together, will create more volatility and risk th...

This week John Gorman, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) joins the podcast.  John recently wrote an op-ed titled “Examining the role of nuclear in Canada’s Emissions Reduction Plan.”   Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked John: What is the scale and size of the new Small Modular Reactors (SMR)?  Is SMR technology safe?  What about the...

This week we welcome to the podcast Jared Dziuba, Oil & Gas Market Specialist, BMO Nesbitt Burns and Rachel Walsh, Carbon Innovation Analyst, BMO Nesbitt Burns. Jared and Rachel have authored several reports on the topic of CCS, including, “The Outer Limits: Exploring the Cost (Opportunity) of Canada’s Net Zero Pathways” and following the recent news of the federal tax credit for CCUS in Canad...

This week our guest is the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources. The Canadian federal government has recently released some important energy and climate policy, including the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan and the Canadian Federal Budget 2022 . Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked Minister Wilkinson: How achievable is Canada’s greenhouse gas reduction goal o...

This week Peter and Jackie talk about the recent developments in the oil markets, including the demand concerns from China’s recent COVID lockdowns, the large Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) release and OPEC plus decision to stick with a small increase in supply next month. They also consider the longer-term with Jackie’s recent commentary “History has a Lot to Say About Today’s Energy Shock.” B...

Last week Peter attended GLOBE Forum 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia.  GLOBE Forum is Canada’s sustainability conference. At GLOBE, Peter and Tonja Leach, the executive director of Quest interviewed Tim Gould, the Chief Energy Economist at the IEA and we include a recording of their conversation on this podcast. Before that, Peter and Jackie discuss Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan that...

This week our guest is Candyce Kelshall who has worked extensively with militaries and advising police forces around the world. Kelshall is currently the President of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS) –Vancouver , Adjunct Professor, Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies and Vice Chair at the Canadian Intelligence Network. Kelshall i...

On this week’s podcast, we interview Ian Anderson, the President and CEO of Trans Mountain Corporation on how the pipeline expansion project is progressing. The Trans Mountain Expansion Project is expected to transport oil to Canada’s west coast by late 2023. Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie ask Ian Anderson: Are the legal challenges for the project done? What is the status of const...

This week Peter and Jackie talk about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  What is the current situation with energy trade flows and markets due to the conflict? How much oil and gas supply could be cut off and what are the alternatives? Could Canadian energy supply help?  Will high oil prices and geopolitical concerns accelerate the energy transition? Also discussed:  Peter’s recent commentary titled “...

On this episode we welcome Murray Mullen, President and CEO of Mullen Group to the podcast. The Mullen group is one of Canada’s largest logistics providers. Here are some of the questions we asked Murray:  What is the situation today with COVID related supply chain bottlenecks? Is there a shortage of truck drivers? How has online shopping impacted supply chain issues? What is your outlook for oil...

This week Tyler Bryant, Strategic Advisor, Climate and Energy at FortisBC joins the podcast.  FortisBC delivers renewable energy, natural gas and electricity to customers in British Columbia. Here are some of the questions we asked Tyler:  What are the challenges of electrifying heating in Canada? What is renewable natural gas? How much renewable natural gas is possible? What is the potential carb...