Investment

Sask. government eyeing energy sector investment – Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Published

5 years ago

February 4, 2020

The province on Tuesday said a new four-member cabinet committee will “review and assess” proposed projects, as well as “possible government involvement” in them.

On the same day an appeal court removed a major obstacle facing the federal government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, the Saskatchewan government signalled that it too is open to investing in pipeline projects.

The announcement came in the form of a new four-member cabinet committee tasked with reviewing pipelines to the U.S. and the Port of Churchill, Man. as well as considering “possible government involvement” in such projects.

Details about potential government investment in a proposed pipeline are scarce, but Export and Trade Development Minister Jeremy Harrison — who sits on the committee — said overwhelming political risk meant considering options “beyond advocacy.”

“One of the things we’ve heard over and over again from proponents is the challenge of securing financing in the open market because of political risk,” Harrison said, citing federal legislation and challenges from left-wing groups as examples.

“It’s not ideal that you would have to have government directly involved in this fashion in energy infrastructure projects, but the reality is unless governments are involved in energy infrastructure projects, they’re not going to be built,” he added.

Trent Wotherspoon, the Saskatchewan NDP’s associate critic for the economy, agreed with Harrison’s basic point that market access and pipelines are important, but warned against “racing” to fund private-sector projects with the public purse.

“You’d hope that market conditions are such that projects can be advanced with private-sector capital. Any time you’re looking at a public dollar, you really have to be certain on the value for money,” Wotherspoon told reporters Friday in Regina.

The committee, which Wotherspoon also said is doing work that should already be underway, consists of Harrison, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer, Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre and Environment Minister Dustin Duncan.

The committee reflects priorities in the government’s new growth plan, which was released late last year and specifically mentions encouraging the development of pipelines to the U.S. and the possibility of shipping oil through Churchill.

Harrison said the government frequently talks to pipeline companies but admitted it has not reached out to the Manitoba government about a pipeline to Churchill. He said “there’s a lot of things that need to happen before we’re at the point of announcing a project.”

Asked where the government — which aims to release a balanced budget next month after three years spent erasing a $1.2-billion deficit — would get the money to buy an equity stake in a pipeline, Harrison called funding it a “priority.”

“That full value (to taxpayers of getting pipelines built) is going to result in economic benefits for the province,” he said.

Pipelines have been a prominent issue in the province since the 2016 Husky Energy Inc. spill into the North Saskatchewan River and the federal government’s acquisition of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project for $4.5 billion.

The provincial government has repeatedly expressed its support for the energy industry.

—With Leader-Post files from Arthur White-Crummey

amacpherson@postmedia.com
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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

7 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

4 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

1 month ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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