Recently tagged oil
Brent at $100
Here’s a bit of comparative math for you.
When Finance Minister Tom Marshall brought down the budget last spring, the province was expecting to run a deficit of $194.3 million … give or take a few grand.
Another key figure in that budget: the government was expecting Brent oil (Newfoundland and Labrador uses the coarser Brent, rather the more popular index of light sweet crude, for its budget work) to trade around $83 throughout the year.
You may have heard that that deficit projection has been scratched, and that the government is now expecting to run a small surplus.
Here’s one reason why, and why - if this keeps up - the surplus may not be so small, in a market roundup report today:
Brent crude oil, the benchmark for oil prices in Europe and Asia, closed on the ICE futures exchange up $1.59, or 1.6 per cent, at $101.01.
You can read more about the market turmoil here.
You can also do the math, that is, the sorts of calculations that must be causing smiles at Confederation Building, for yourself.
Tags: Tom Marshall, economy, oil
Oil wells, in the heart of the city
Tags: oil
Relief wells: OK for Arctic, not so much off Newfoundland
You may remember Danny Williams ruling out relief wells for deepsea projects, like the one Chevron is drilling now in the Orphan Basin, northeast of St. John’s. Prohibitively expensive, we were told at the time.
This report in the Globe and Mail, though, sets the scene for the Arctic, where a different emphasis is in place.
