The prices of Alberta oil have been relatively strong in 2019, says a report by ATB Financial.
Despite trade wars, anxiety over Brexit, and record-setting oil production in the United States, oil prices have not started to tumble, the report states.
The price spike brought on by attacks on Saudi Arabia’s main oil facility a few weeks ago has been erased, and global benchmarks have edged down in the early days of October, but West Texas Intermediate is still trading above the $US 50 per barrel mark. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has averaged about $57 over the first nine months of the year.
Western Canadian Select (WCS) has averaged about $US 45 per barrel so far this year and Edmonton Light has averaged just over $52 per barrel. This is much better than the lows experienced in December when the price of a barrel of WCS averaged just $5.74, the ATB report explains.
Alberta’s oil patch faces a range of current challenges, but at least prices have been doing relatively well. This could, of course, change as the global economy slows and if the countries that have volunteered to keep their oil production in check change their minds.
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