The plunge in global oil demand from COVID-19 shutdowns worldwide represents an existential challenge for Canada’s petroleum producers. Oil prices have cratered as the cartel machinations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) unravelled in the face of the pandemic. Current forecasts expect that global oil demand will plummet 30 per cent or more from the pre-pandemic levels of roughly 100 million barrels per day.
On Thursday, OPEC members and Russia (OPEC plus) agreed to cut 10 million barrels from daily production but also called on the U.S. and Canada to cut an additional five million barrels’ worth of production per day. After Friday’s meeting of G20 energy ministers, the G20 pledged to do “whatever it…
Governments around the world are responding to the COVID-19 crisis with myriad measures – additional resources for health care, supports for individuals and businesses, tax deferrals and public health edicts that have slowed or stopped activity in many sectors of the economy. One common consequence of these measures is that governments need massive amounts of money, both to finance the deficits that the new spending and recession will cause, and to backstop credit markets and cover temporary requirements from the delayed collection of taxes.
In addition to longer-term concerns about sustainability and intergenerational fairness, this surge of sovereign borrowing raises more immediate concerns about the willingness and ability of…
In recent weeks, Ottawa has announced several financial assistance measures for those most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. They include increased flexibility for employment insurance benefits, generous wage subsidies for businesses, and an emergency response benefit of $500 per week for affected workers and caregivers. But these programs pose implementation challenges that could result in Canadians waiting weeks to receive the financial assistance they need, assuming they qualify at all.
An unprecedented demand spike is already challenging the capacity of the employment insurance system, especially with Ottawa having closed Service Canada outlets across the country. Technical difficulties around eligibility conditions for the…
