The past two months have been a scary time for the World economy. Stock markets have shed 30-60% of their value at the worst of it, many parts of the globe have slipped into a recession, while media alarmists have batted around the term “Great Depression 2.0″, as if that’s supposed to make us feel better about what’s happened to our RRSP’s.
The big question is, what does this mean for Alberta, and Edmonton specifically? First off, stop freaking out about the price of oil plummenting to $4 a barrel — the state of world oil reserves is alot more tenuous than it was back in the 80’s, as no new supergiant oil fields have been found in quite some time. This means even as demand declines throughout the world for oil, production in many, many areas is declining …. add the fact that winter heating season is around the corner, and that OPEC is about to slash production, and I’ll think you’ll see oil hover in the 50’s for now, possibly rising over $60 by Spring. Most oilsands projects are still profitable at this price, leaving only the more speculative projects on the shelf.
Some more links to assauge your fears:
How are the RCMP down in Red Deer doing during this economic downturn? Speeding violations must be on the rise to generate more revenue!
By: Kin Robles on December 1, 2008
at 11:03 pm