Canadian Shale: The Next Big Bonanza

Just when you thought most of the shale action was taking place south of the 49th parallel, drillers are starting to place horizontal wells inside rich Alberta shale deposits. Canada is the number one go-to source for America's oil imports. And the northern neighbor is getting ready to shift into a higher gear of production, with the rise of shale oil & gas in huge Alberta deposits.

Alberta Shale

According to a recent study from the Energy Resources Conservation Board of Alberta, the province could be sitting on 3,324 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas, 58.6 billion barrels of gas liquids, and 423.6 billion barrels of oil that have yet to be explored. Compared with the 2,214 TCF of reserves for the entire United States, Alberta alone could be the richest source of natural gas on the planet.

These new discoveries are enough to fuel current American demand for oil for 50 years, with enough natural gas for 130 years! What also makes these findings astounding is that many of these shale plays are found on the Alberta/British Columbia border, and the B.C. estimates were not included in the report. _Alberta Shale

And while Canada's tight oil & gas production is likely to pick up steam, don't forget the trillions of barrels of oil equivalent in Canadian oil sands. Oil sands production is getting cleaner and cheaper -- which means that US President Obama needs to get on the ball and dump his attitude of arrogant energy snobbery toward Canada. Lifting the arbitrary ban on the Keystone XL pipeline would be an acceptable first indication of good faith on Obama's part.

“We have so many resources, we don’t just need access to one of these markets, we need all of them,” Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes said in a recent speech in Calgary.

Plans to ship Alberta oil as far east as Saint John, N.B., are gaining momentum with the recent backing of several provincial premiers. Joe Oliver, Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, said the Eastern option would enable refineries to purchase Western Canadian oil at a considerably lower price, create jobs and possibly even reduce the price of fuel. _National Post

Canada is poised to explode on the world scene as an important energy supplier -- and not just to the US. Obama had best get his priorities straight, or his legacy will be as a laughing stock.