The Oil Drum

Well, let's see I have put on the helmet, the breast plate, the greaves and all that stuff, and so perhaps I might be armored enough to tip-toe into the debate about oil sands and oil shale. Tonight will be oil sand, if I survive and recover, then (after reading a few more scientific papers) I will tackle oil shale.

Just recently there has been increasing attention paid to the heavy oil sands of Alberta. Perhaps, as in the case of the Washington Post more negative than positive. And it is interesting to note, from the tone of those pieces, that it is now apparently more desirable to have your rivers flow over and through tarry sand, than to have the sand cleaned and replaced, along with the river. But it is not that argument that I would follow, but rather, OGJ having come out with a Supplement on Canadian Oil and Gas, to briefly comment on one or two of the features of that report. (Which apparently will take a while before it appears in the electronic version of the magazine).

Let me just say that neither Bloomberg nor any other news outfit should use the word "peak" in a headline unless they're talking about peak oil. My hopes for MSM interest in PO were sparked by this headline:

EnCana, Canada Oil Shares Fall as Investors Bet Oil Has Peaked

Alas, the article has nothing to do with PO. What they mean is that oil prices have peaked.

Still the article was rather interesting. As oil prices were steeply rising earlier this year, EnCana and Suncor were raking it in on the stock market. However, now there's a perception that the tide is turning, and that oil prices are going to drop. This is hurting EnCana and Suncor on the stock market.

How do they know the tide is turning?