Weyburn 鈥� Morale and investment in the oilpatch couldn鈥檛 get much lower, with the current government, according to Dan Cugnet, chair of Weyburn-based junior producer Valleyview Petroleums.
On Sept. 11, the day of the election call, Pipeline News asked Cugnet what the issue are for the oilpatch in the federal election. He said, 鈥淭he obvious one is the same thing we鈥檝e been faced with for the last four years with the current government. They鈥檙e completely hostile to the idea of resource extraction in any way, shape or form. The oil industry does not fit with their idea of the future.鈥�
As examples, he said, 鈥淚 think we can use the word obstruction. They鈥檝e been obstructionist with anything to do with resource extraction, whether it be pipelines, pipeline approvals. The two hot button bills, Bill C-48, Bill C-69, change the regulatory landscape making it all but impossible for any large-scale megaprojects. That鈥檚 not just resource extraction, but anything they don鈥檛 deem necessary. It鈥檚 highly subjective, and I think it takes the power out of the hands of the existing regulatory bodies.
鈥淭he idea that we can bring tankers of oil into Quebec, via the St. Lawrence River, but we can鈥檛 move tankers of oil out of the Pacific coast is absurd, when we have rows of cruise ships coming up and down that same coastline. They鈥檙e basically just massive vessels, full of bunker oil, parked in the harbour of Victoria.
鈥淭o me, the biggest issue is that we鈥檙e dealing with a lot of hypocrisy, and a lot of the country doesn鈥檛 realize, or doesn鈥檛 want to accept what has built modern society.
鈥淭o that point, too, we continue to funnel equalization dollars into Quebec from the very resource sector they seek to hobble.鈥�
Cugnet does not have a lot of confidence in the current government getting the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline built, especially given ongoing court challenges to the project. 鈥淭o me, energy is something that is of national concern, and really speaks to our own independence and our own national security. I don鈥檛 know when and why the courts were given so much power to step in on matters of national importance and national security. It鈥檚 insanity. I just don鈥檛 know why the courts have this much power.鈥�
鈥淚f we were in a state of war, and needed this oil?鈥� he posed. 鈥淲e are in a state of war. It鈥檚 just not bombs, it鈥檚 economic warfare. I think if we had some leadership that started to view it that way, there would be a sense of urgency. It鈥檚 the exact opposite, the environment we鈥檙e in.鈥�
Asked what he would want to see happen in the first year, if there were a change in government, Cugnet said, 鈥淩epeal Bill C-69, C-48 and the carbon tax.鈥�
He went on, 鈥淚 think those are big parts of it. But create an environment where there鈥檚 some stability, for foreign investment, and even domestic investment. You look at institutional investors. Why would they put money into the energy industry when the goalposts are moving every two weeks? There鈥檚 no consistency in the regulatory environment right now. How do you invest in something if you don鈥檛 know what the government鈥檚 going to be doing a week from now, two weeks from now, or a month from now?鈥�
He noted that under the previous government, some of these processes were taking many years, up to a decade. 鈥淚 think the NEB (National Energy Board) has serious issues, when we can see, Stateside, the regulatory environment down there, and how many pipelines have hit the ground in the last 15 years. We鈥檙e talking large pipeline projects, and how many haven鈥檛 happened here in Canada. I think the NEB needs a serious overhaul. I think it was too onerous and two punitive beforehand. Some might disagree, but there鈥檚 no reason anything in this world should take ten years of due diligence before it can commence.鈥�
鈥淭his is essentially looping, laying a pipeline that has been in existence for decades.鈥�
Asked if there isn鈥檛 a change in government, what will happen to the mood and investment climate activity in the oilpatch, Cugnet replied, 鈥淚 would say it is flat to none, right now, as it is.鈥�
He pointed to a recent sale of assets in the region, and teams interested in investing in them can鈥檛 get money. 鈥淲e鈥檙e at the bottom right now, from the standpoint of investment,鈥� he said, and similarly, from a standpoint of morale.
鈥淭he institutional investors, for the most part, are gone. Bankers aren鈥檛 putting any money into the sector鈥檚 space. It鈥檚 death by attrition.鈥�
鈥淐an it get worse? That is the question. I don鈥檛 know. I guess that鈥檚 what we鈥檒l find out. How many houses have sold in Estevan and Regina last year? Can it get worse? Can we lose more businesses? Maybe.鈥�
