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Chris Varcoe

Chris Varcoe

Calgary Herald

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Varcoe: 'We need it now': Shell Canada head urges Ottawa to act on carbon capture incentives

The head of Shell Canada says the company is looking to advance its ambitious carbon capture and storage project in Alberta, but is growing...

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Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Calgary to adopt new brand — Blue Sky City

Calgary is embracing a new brand, and it’s striving to look up. Calgary Economic Development announced Wednesday that it’s adopting a new brand...

17.04.2024 6

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Ottawa includes energy projects in new $5B Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program

Less than five years ago, Alberta set up a loan guarantee program that has now seen Indigenous communities invest more than $1.5 billion and buy...

17.04.2024 5

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'A double-edged sword' — Housing prices, sales across Alberta set to accelerate throughout 2024

Alberta’s housing market is heating up and there are more signs it’s going to continue to sizzle throughout 2024. Two new reports examining the...

16.04.2024 7

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: As LNG proposals approach starting gate, Canada must unshackle big projects

It’s a major export project that seems like a natural fit for Canada. Take a natural resource that’s stuck in an oversupplied North American...

12.04.2024 9

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Chatter of $100 oil' highlights divergence of crude, natural gas prices for Canadian producers

Oil prices have marched higher over the past month — and talk of $100-a-barrel crude is in the air — while natural gas prices across North America...

10.04.2024 4

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Calgary is Canada’s current housing hot spot' as prices and rents rise — and employers grow worried

Alberta is experiencing a population boom and a housing crisis, and the repercussions continue to spread across Wild Rose Country. For Albertans...

09.04.2024 20

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta's business leaders want Trudeau to scrap oilpatch emissions cap — they got his answer Friday

Alberta’s business community has insisted for weeks that the Trudeau government scrap its contentious plan to cap emissions from the country’s oil...

07.04.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Coming soon, an end to the Trans Mountain expansion drama as pipeline targets May startup

Like some sort of pipeline telenovela, the decade-long story of the Trans Mountain expansion always seems to have another unexpected plot twist at the...

05.04.2024 5

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: '6,000 construction workers on site' — Dow's Alberta megaproject highlights 'opportunity' of energy transition

Threat or opportunity? For years, the idea of decarbonizing Alberta’s energy sector has often been viewed as a risk to the oil and gas industry,...

04.04.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta power market shakeup could save consumers billions but at 'expense of investor confidence,' report finds

New research examining the overhaul of Alberta’s power market concludes provincial reforms will lead to savings for consumers — as much as $1...

03.04.2024 5

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Blood in the water' as consumer carbon tax under fire from provincial premiers

What do wind turbines as tall as the Calgary Tower, Alberta withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and LNG have to do with increasing the carbon tax...

29.03.2024 6

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta business leaders call on Ottawa to scrap emissions cap, and Guilbeault fires back

An interesting mix of CEOs, executives and business group leaders signed an open letter Wednesday to federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault,...

28.03.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Scrap net-zero target, or disclose more transition risks — Suncor faces duelling climate proposals at AGM

Investors at Suncor Energy annual meetings have seen plenty of proposals and debate about the company’s climate plans over the years. But at the...

27.03.2024 20

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'A big deal' — oilsands group set to make major regulatory application for CCUS megaproject

The Trudeau government and environmental critics have demanded Canada’s oilsands producers show tangible progress on its colossal carbon capture...

22.03.2024 6

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta gives Ottawa some credit, a few jabs as TMX reaches finish line

Premier Danielle Smith is hailing the impending startup of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion this spring. While she’s grateful the federal...

20.03.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Brace for impact:' Rising oil prices, higher taxes and seasonal forces set to hit gas pumps

Albertans have felt increased pain at the pumps this year and gasoline prices are widely projected to rev up in the coming weeks. On April 1, gas...

19.03.2024 50

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: A tricky balancing act to restructure Alberta's power market — and not get shocked

Nathan Neudorf knows there’s a delicate balancing act facing the Alberta government with this week’s announcement to restructure the provincial...

15.03.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: With negative power pricing and a day-ahead market, Alberta's electricity system set for 'biggest shift' in 25 years, says AESO head

Alberta’s electricity market has been through a series of topsy-turvy changes over the past decade. Think about the mandatory phase-out of...

13.03.2024 4

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta First Nation signs deal with Suncor to explore new oilsands mine on reserve lands

More than five years ago, after then-Suncor Energy CEO Steve Williams opened the company’s long-awaited $17-billion Fort Hills mine, he told...

08.03.2024 30

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: As 'green shoots' sprout in oilsands, Enbridge targets increased pipeline volumes

However, don't expect a major new export pipeline project in Western Canada's future

07.03.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Oilsands producer fires back at Trudeau government over federal carbon capture incentives

Canada’s natural resources minister is growing weary of waiting for the oilsands sector to start building one of the world’s largest carbon...

06.03.2024 9

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Rising oil prices could bring back some Alberta gasoline tax relief in 2024

Alberta’s finance minister got a helping hand over the weekend from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), although it could end...

05.03.2024 7

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta's finance minister insists $250B Heritage Fund is 'entirely possible'

The UCP government has big plans to stash money in the Heritage Fund and get Alberta off its chronic reliance on resource revenue, yet there are some...

01.03.2024 3

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Alberta restricts renewables built on farmland, creates buffers for 'pristine viewscapes'

Alberta is introducing a raft of new rules and will take an “agricultural-first” approach when deciding where renewable energy projects can be...

28.02.2024 8

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Canadian oilpatch spending forecast to rise in 2024 even as natural gas producers 'penny-pinch'

Despite feeble natural gas prices and concerns about federal energy policies, oil and gas producers in the country are expected to nudge up their...

28.02.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Renewables industry seeks fairness as provincial moratorium expires this week

Alberta’s controversial pause on approving new renewable energy projects will end Thursday and industry developers say they’re looking for one...

27.02.2024 4

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: As Lynx exits, questions surround future of ultra-low-cost air travel in Canada

When the CEO of newly minted airline Lynx Air stepped in front of the microphones at the Calgary airport in November 2021, she laid out a simple...

24.02.2024 6

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Calgary hotel owners 'stood up', and sky high property tax hikes came down

Calgary hotel operators sat down for a roundtable meeting last week and a chance to meet face-to-face with the City of Calgary’s assessor. Just a...

23.02.2024 4

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'One last shot' — Smith vows to build up Heritage Fund, move Alberta off royalty roller-coaster

Albertans have climbed aboard the government’s royalty roller-coaster so many times in the past two decades that we’re used to being turned upside...

22.02.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Ottawa's new clean electricity rules simplify emergencies, but could still leave Albertans in the dark, province says

What would have happened in the middle of last month’s prolonged deep freeze if the new proposed changes to the federal Clean Electricity...

20.02.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Put shovels in the ground': Federal resources minister calls on oilsands producers to move on carbon capture project

It’s been more than two years since the Pathways Alliance was officially launched in June 2021, with Canada’s biggest oilsands operators unveiling...

16.02.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Smith says Alberta won't sterilize 'prime agriculture land,' as renewables pause ends this month

Alberta remained a powerful magnet for investment in Canada’s renewable sector last year, home to a whopping 92 per cent of the country’s growth...

14.02.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: It won't take long to fill up TMX pipeline, but what comes next for growing oilpatch?

Facing transportation bottlenecks — and a divisive pipeline debate — for years, the Canadian oil industry is now eagerly awaiting the startup of...

13.02.2024 20

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Big year' for De Havilland as it adds staff, expects to break ground on massive facility in Alberta

Less than six weeks into the new year, 2024 is already shaping up to be a pivotal time for De Havilland Aircraft of Canada and its ambitious plans in...

10.02.2024 9

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'I hope we don't blow it' — Smith sees U.S. LNG pause as chance for Canada to catch up

The head of Enbridge calls it a second chance, while Alberta’s premier sees the U.S. moratorium on approving LNG export projects as an opportunity...

09.02.2024 9

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Provincial report warns of $600B hit to Canadian economy from federal emissions cap

It’s no surprise the Alberta government and the country’s oil and gas industry fiercely oppose the Trudeau government’s incoming cap on...

08.02.2024 20

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Albertans turned off lights to protect power grid, would they do it to save money?

Albertans reacted quickly and cut their power use after an emergency alert was issued last month — but would they also do so to save some money? ...

06.02.2024 30

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Unworkable, untenable' — Alberta business leaders want Ottawa to scrap Canada's oil and gas emissions cap

At meetings in Ottawa this week, a delegation of Alberta business leaders delivered a single, clear message to federal officials about the incoming...

02.02.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: U.S. pause on LNG projects offers Canada 'second chance' to be global player, says Enbridge CEO

As the United States pauses the approval of all new LNG export projects, Canada has two projects now being built and a few more at the starting gate. ...

30.01.2024 20

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Why not?' — Smith eyes doubling Alberta oil and gas production in an uncertain energy world

Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to see Alberta “double down” on oil and natural gas production. It’s a snappy quote, as it sounds like...

26.01.2024 9

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'A long time coming': Trans Mountain pipeline expansion aims to be finished in the coming weeks

Completing the expansion has been viewed as essential to getting more Canadian oil to export markets It’s gone through more peaks and valleys than...

23.01.2024 9

Vancouver Sun

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'A long time coming': Trans Mountain pipeline expansion still aims to be finished in the coming weeks

It’s gone through more peaks and valleys than the terrain it is traversing, but the Trans Mountain expansion project is now 98 per cent complete and...

23.01.2024 8

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'Pretty pessimistic' — Natural gas producers react to sagging prices this winter

The fickle fortunes of natural gas markets have Canadian petroleum producers bracing for weak prices during the first half of 2024 and some revising...

20.01.2024 4

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Industry spending on well cleanup rises, but more work to be done

Is the glass half-full, or half-empty, when it comes to Alberta’s latest attempts to tackle aging oil and gas wells across the province? A new...

19.01.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Prospects for nuclear power resurface in province with new partnership between Alberta, Ontario generators

The notion of nuclear power in the oilsands has kicked round for decades, including the wild 1950s Project Cauldron proposal to detonate a bomb...

17.01.2024 7

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: After being within a half-hour of rotating outages, AESO head says Alberta is 'through the worst of it'

Monday morning arrived with another power grid alert in the province — the third in consecutive days — but the head of the Alberta Electric System...

16.01.2024 9

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Cold snap sends power use to new heights; growing supply from renewables opens door to future exports

As a punishing cold snap sends Alberta power consumption soaring to record heights, the province is leaning on electricity generation capacity that...

13.01.2024 30

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: Experts expect 'very active year for M&A' in Canadian oilpatch

After a parade of deals in the Canadian oilpatch in 2023, experts expect a steady pace of mergers and acquisitions to continue this year, with...

11.01.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

Varcoe: 'I would love to sell it' — Smith says Alberta looking at options for its stake in Sturgeon Refinery

For possible sale: Part-ownership in an Alberta government megaproject. Still relatively new, this refinery adds value to Alberta’s natural...

10.01.2024 10

Calgary Herald

Chris Varcoe

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