Ottawa to announce $1.6-billion boost Tuesday for battered energy sector
Posted December 18, 2018 8:09 am.
Last Updated December 18, 2018 8:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Canada’s battered energy industry will get a $1.6-billion boost from Ottawa on Tuesday to try to slow the political and economic bleeding.
Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies, which are reeling from record-low oil prices.
A source who provided the figure to The Canadian Press says funds will be divided among several different programs, including money to help companies invest in clean growth, loans, and other financial supports to help companies find new markets away from the United States, as well as investments in training and new technology.
It is a package based, in some ways, on those offered to softwood, steel and aluminum producers after the United States dealt them direct blows with new import tariffs.
Canada’s oil patch isn’t facing that kind of pressure, but it is still the U.S. behind much of its pain.
With pipelines at capacity and some major refineries down for maintenance this fall, the price for Alberta crude plummeted in the fall, hitting a panic-inducing $11 a barrel in late November.
