High oil prices used to mean oil and gas companies investing in big new projects and creating lots of new jobs. Not anymore. As our new analysis shows, in the decade to 2023, Canada’s oil and gas sector shed 35,000 workers, as companies engaged in aggressive cost-cutting. 1/5
But the key thing is, they did it while growing their production and experiencing record profit years. Production ⬆️ 47% Direct jobs per barrel ⬇️ 43% More oil and gas production, fewer people directly employed. www.pembina.org/pub/drilling...
Companies achieved this by adopting shorter-term outlooks: 📉 Less investment in long-term megaprojects that create jobs now and production later 📈 More short-term production at existing sites ➡️ Buying out companies to bolster market share 💵 Cost cutting, like automation 3/5
In other words, companies aren’t behaving as if they're gearing up for a future of massive production expansion. Instead, they’re minimizing costs and maximizing short-term profits. Which makes sense, given softening demand for oil & gas across key global markets. 4/5
So we ask: How should these long-term changes in oil and gas employment inform our national discussion about nation-building projects right now? Perhaps it’s time to focus on projects that bring good, long-term jobs, in future-proofed sectors. 5/5 www.pembina.org/pub/sustaina...
Since most of those businesses recognize they're in the "long tail" stage of profit-taking, this would be an exceptionally good time to take their money for site cleanups.
I mean, the best time would have been "while they were making the mess," but the second best time is right now.