Andrew Bell

Anchor, Reporter

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The big story for BNN today is the outlook for Canadian energy investors and this country’s oil and gas producers as oil prices loll below US$50 and Ottawa reckons with the decision by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.N) to essentially abandon the Alberta oil fields.

“In the long run, investors will see the Canadian oil and gas industry as a good place to invest,” the Prime Minister gamely told the CERAWeek conference in Houston. But the advent of national carbon price in this country, with new leaders in Washington who seem uninterested in decisive action on global warming, raises questions of whether Canadian energy can attract investment.

"My philosophy is if the Americans put on a carbon tax, we should put on a carbon tax," Painted Pony Petroleum (PPY.TO) CEO Patrick Ward told us yesterday on Commodities. "But without one it's hard.”
Check out that interview, and the story by BNN Web producer Arturo Chang, here.

METHANE POLLUTION

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says Ottawa is still determined to cut methane pollution from the oil patch even as Washington moves to kill a joint Canadian-U.S. methane plan agreed to by former president Barack Obama. The minister joined us yesterday on Business Day PM.

MARKET CALL TONIGHT IS MOVING

Starting Monday, March 20 BNN’s Market Call Tonight broadcast will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT.

ENERGY COMPETITION

We’ll hear more about the competitive threat to Canada’s energy sector on Commodities today, starting at 11 a.m. ET, when we’re joined by more oil and gas executives.

At 11:05 a.m. ET, it’s the turn of David Wilson, CEO of natural gas specialist Kelt Exploration (KEL.TO), whose stock is up 41 per cent in a year, outpacing the 17 per cent gain in Toronto-listed energy shares as a whole.

And then at 11:20 a.m. ET, we’ll get the take Grant Fagerheim, CEO of Whitecap Resources, whose shares have advanced 20 per cent in 12 months.

BULLS RUNNING

U.S. stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, have multiplied investors’ money more than four-fold since the 2009 bottom. So we’re checking in with strategists today for tips on when or if it’s time to start unloading equities.

At  9:35 a.m. ET, we’ll be joined by Himalaya Jain of Scotia Wealth Management. Jain tells segment producer Rob Graham that he’s been selling some of his U.S. bank stocks and big technology names but adding gold, even though he’s not a bullion bug in the long-term, “to provide some portfolio insurance.”  

And we’ll track investor reaction throughout the day to those strong jobs numbers in Canada and the United States. Canada added more than 15,000 jobs in February, more than five times the estimated gain. The U.S. job increase was 235,000 or 45,000 above expectations.

Dana Peterson, North America Economist at Citi, told us this morning that the numbers fit with her thesis on the Federal Reserve’s strategy: Janet Yellen is set to hike rates next week.

STATCAN SLOWDOWN

And let’s hope that the Internet wizards at Statistics Canada have their little screwdrivers out this morning.

As of 8:41 a.m. ET, the number provider was mumbling on Twitter that “Due to circumstances beyond our control, our website is not available at the moment.”

For BNN managing editor Noah Zivitz, “it’s beyond nuts that 20 minutes after the fact ,the most important data of the month is still not available on Statscan’s Web site.”