Snowmobiles finally get the Tesla treatment

Kyle Stock, Bloomberg News

Imagine you are a moose, chomping away on some twigs without a hint of concern in your beautiful, tennis-ball-sized brain. If a 700-pound machine zooms up behind you, roaring like a vacuum cleaner with a chainsaw attached, you might be inclined to stop what you’re doing and try to stomp it into smithereens. 

At least, that was the reaction Cory Burrows got when he encountered a moose while snowmobiling in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. “I basically did a backflip off the machine and started sprinting,” Burrows, a guide for tour operator Grand Adventures, told me. “I ended up crouched behind a tree just watching the moose on the trail above me. He was fuming.”

When Burrows and I met to traverse a snowy trail outside Winter Park, Colorado, in February, he was more sanguine as he scanned the trees ahead. The snowmobiles we sat astride this time were electric and, as such, hummed along as quietly as a refrigerator.

“As far as I can tell, the moose don’t pay attention to them,” he said. 

The humble snowmobile, a staple of winter travel in northern latitudes, is finally going electric. Motivated by a wave of green consumers and emissions mandates in U.S. national parks, manufacturers are trading long trips and a facility with fresh powder for a lighter carbon footprint and near silence, while working on next-gen machines that offer more functionality and fewer compromises. 

Late last year, BRP Inc., a Canadian motorsports empire, introduced a pair of electric snowmobiles to tour operators including Grand Adventures. In February, the company doubled down, unveiling its first electric models for individual consumers. The U.S. offering, the Ski-Doo Expedition Electric, comes with a price tag of US$17,000, compared with about $11,300 for one of the company’s gasoline-burning equivalents. Its European cousin, the Lynx Adventure Electric, runs consumers about €21,000 (US$22,800).

Also on the market is an electric snowmobile from Canada-based Taiga Motors Corp., which only makes battery-powered machines and has produced roughly 500 of them since launching in 2015. The Ski-Doo zips at up to 31 miles an hour and covers about 30 miles on a charge. Taiga says its version gets up to 62 miles per charge. 

“Six or seven years ago, if you mentioned the idea of an electric snowmobile, you’d get laughed out of the room,” said Taiga Chief Executive Officer Sam Bruneau, who likened his company to Tesla in the early days of EVs. “It was so far out of their minds and that’s what really created the opportunity for us.”

Even more competition is on the way: Vidde Snow Mobility AB, a Swedish startup, plans to deliver its first 1,000 electric sleds later this year, including a batch bound for the storied Icehotel in Jukkasjarvi. Minnesota-based Polaris Inc., which makes a variety of off-road vehicles, has its own prototype of a battery-powered snowmobile; although it declined to say when it will start cranking out a production version.

“For commercial customers in particular, zero-emission is a big deal,” said Josh Hermes, Polaris’ vice president of off-road EVs.

Snowmobiles aren’t a natural fit for electric drivetrains. Cold weather drastically crimps battery chemistry and range along with it, while the vehicle’s movement comes from what is essentially a conveyor belt of paddles pushing the snow. Friction is unavoidable. A bigger battery makes for more range, but adds weight that increases the friction, diminishing returns for riders.

“Honestly, a snowmobile is one of the worst vehicles to electrify,” said BRP CEO José Boisjoli, describing it as solving a puzzle that pits size against range against price point. “But we need to start somewhere. People are more and more conscious of the planet.”

To reduce drag and increase range, BRP fits its electric sleds with smaller, narrower skis on the front and a shorter track with smaller ridges underneath. That helps them churn away efficiently on a packed trail, but it means that for now the electric models flounder in deep, untouched powder.  

Those wintry hurdles are a major reason other off-road vehicles got the Tesla treatment first. Last year, Polaris started shipping an electric version of its Ranger XP Kinetic, a golf cart on steroids that the company pitches as ideal for quiet hunting or life alongside nervous livestock. Even that product is aimed at “utility” customers like farmers, and not the average recreational adrenaline junkie. 

Utility customers have “easy access to charging and they’re not traveling long distances,” Hermes said. By contrast, just five per cent of snowmobile use is job-related, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Boisjoli said BRP is quickly expanding the range on its electric machines; and for shorter trips, the current models are plenty. Three times a day, Burrows runs Grand Adventures’ sleds on hour-long tours, then charges them for an hour before sending them out again. In the morning, he doesn’t have to arrive early for fueling. “I literally just unplug them and we go,” he said.

BRP plans to offer an electric option in every category of vehicle it makes. The company will launch a battery-powered motorcycle this year, a hydrofoil next year and eventually a boat. There are also plans for an all-terrain vehicle and an off-road two-seater.

“To develop a good mountain snowmobile that’s electric, it’s impossible,” Boisjoli says. “Maybe in 20 years. But we cannot ignore that there is a trend out there toward greener products. We want to be a pioneer on this.”

Polaris has been less strident about electrification, but says the technology is already a good fit for utility applications: farms, resorts, property managers and other work-related trips. “We’re going to be very intentional about where and when we chose to commercialize electric vehicles,” Hermes said. “But those customers tend to travel at slower speeds and shorter distances. And they’ve got easy access to charging.”

From a climate perspective, electric snowmobiles are a no-brainer. While the U.S. doesn’t regulate snowmobiles’ greenhouse gas emissions, even the most efficient models typically emit far more, mile for mile, than internal-combustion cars. That’s why Yellowstone National Park, for example, caps snowmobile visitation at 720 machines a day and only permits vehicles that meet strict emissions and noise thresholds. 

But snowmobiles’ overall emissions footprint is tiny. For one thing, there aren’t that many of them. While drivers buy about 67 million cars and trucks every year globally, annual snowmobile sales hover around 125,000, according to the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association. That makes the entire planet’s snowmobile market roughly the size of the car market in Utah. Across the U.S., there are only 1.3 million registered sleds. 

Bruneau at Taiga concedes that going electric also has a negative stigma for many snowmobile enthusiasts. “You can see it in our social [media] comments,” he said. “Fifty percent of people are staunchly against electric and 50 per cent are very pro-electric.”

That’s why his company’s pitch is as much about expanding the market as it is about winning over incumbent riders. Almost one-third of Taiga’s retail orders have come from people buying their first snowmobile, according to the company. “A lot of people like vehicles that are loud and pollute,” Bruneau said. “But a lot more people stay away from them because of those things.” 

Deep in the mountains of Colorado, it’s easy to see the appeal of electric models. While a gas-burning sled is about as loud as a tractor-trailer, BRP’s battery-powered Ski-Doos sound more like box fans — a constant “shush” from the gliding skis up front mixed with a subtle “whir” from the tread paddling away at the snow underneath. The machine also gets going quickly, offering the same kind of instant, low-end torque Tesla drivers are so fond of. 

When the Ski-Doos got down to their last electrons, Burrows led us off of a snowy peak and back to a lodge nestled at the base of the mountain range. The moose never showed, but a pack of friendly dogs scrambled out to meet us as we pulled up to a dozen Level-2 chargers sticking out of the snow like parking meters. 

“These will be ready to go in the morning,” Burrows said. “We’ve been out there two hours, but honestly I think they can go three.”

 👍💓😀

Emojis with service transactions can increase tipping by up to 30%, study finds

Mitchell Consky, BNN Bloomberg

Emojis, the small images or icons used to express an idea, emotion or reaction, have become ubiquitous with digital modes of communication -- whether through text messaging, emails, or social media posts.

But a new study has found that the next frontier for smiley faces could be service-based business transactions, with researchers suggesting that emojis wield the potential to increase tipping averages. 

The research, published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, has determined that a payment terminal’s inclusion of a happy face emoji can boost service tips by over 30 per cent.

Researchers evaluated three tipping contexts: full-service restaurants with credit or debit payment options, food delivery apps and take-out services. In each of the assessed situations, preselected tipping percentages were presented with different emojis.

The 10 per cent option, for instance, was accompanied by a neutral emoji expression, while the 15 to 25 per cent range was presented with increasingly happier smiley faces. 

Full-service restaurants experienced an 11-per cent relative increase, with the presence of emojis on the payment terminal increasing the tipping average from 22.86 per cent to 25.38 per cent, a notable jump of two per cent. 

The food delivery app, which didn’t present the 25-per cent tipping option, saw the inclusion of emojis increase the average tipping payments from 14.66 per cent to 16.11 per cent, demonstrating a relative increase of 9.9 per cent.

Most significantly impacted by the inclusion of emojis in transaction processes, however, was take-out services, which saw the average tipping payment jump from 12.61 per cent to 16.75 per cent.

According to the study, prior research has closely examined a number of variables beyond customer satisfaction that influence tipping decisions. Many of these variables, the study explains, are a result of human-to-human interaction, such as a server’s appearance, body language and verbal compliments. 

However, the study said that “technological advances also give restaurants greater ability to alter the information produced to customers during the payment transaction that do not rely on server initiatives.” 

The study explains that faces are the primary channel for non-verbal emotion communication and that smiles are the “most direct signal to positive emotions.” 

Digitally communicated, the study explains virtual smiles are similar to facial smiles in that they activate a region of the brain closely associated with facial perception.  

This biological reaction could be a reason why the inclusion of emojis has led to an increase in tipping averages, the researchers suggest. 

With the landscape of service and tipping payments constantly changing, the study says that “understanding non-conscious methods for increasing tips is important for academics and practitioners alike to consider.” 

 

Canadian Overseas Petroleum files bankruptcy in Canada, U.S.

Jonathan Randles, Bloomberg News

Aerial view of operations at the Athabasca oil sands near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. 

Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd. has filed bankruptcy in its home country and the U.S. and said it intends to restructure.

The Calgary-based oil and gas production company said its existing lenders have offered to provide as much as US$11 million in financing to fund its proposed restructuring. COPL said it has requested the immediate suspension on trading of its shares on both the London Stock Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange.

COPL has sought a form of Chapter 11 protection in Canada and filed for bankruptcy in Delaware to protect its U.S. assets, according to court documents. The company’s oil- and gas-production work is centered on Wyoming.

The company said its day-to-day operations will continue as normal and it intends to continue paying its suppliers but it “believes there is little prospect for a return to shareholders or bond holders.”

The bankruptcy filing comes after COPL announced in January that it had appointed restructuring adviser Peter Kravitz as its interim chief executive officer. Kravitz is a founding principal of advisory firm Province LLC and worked on numerous corporate restructurings, according to the company.

COPL announced the departure of its chief financial officer last month.

The case is Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd., number 24-10378, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Wilmington).

 

Bitcoin rally similar to 1990s tech bubble: expert

Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

As Bitcoin races toward new records on a seemingly daily basis one investment expert isn’t convinced the asset is a viable long-term investment.

On Monday, the price of a Bitcoin eclipsed US$72,000 for the first time, marking the sixth-consecutive day of gains and bringing gains in 2024 up almost 70 per cent on the back of investments into U.S. exchange-traded funds.

John Zechner, chairman and founder of J. Zechner Associates, said he’s been impressed with the cryptocurrency’s recent rally but isn’t buying its long-term outlook.

“It's almost like it's money chasing returns, money chasing money and that to me is almost like the definition of a speculative investment,” he told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview on Monday.

“I have yet to see a major bank, a major country outside of El Salvador, get behind it. In all the conference calls I sit on with software companies, I never hear them say ‘blockchain technology.’”

Zechner compared Bitcoin’s run to the tech bubble of the late 1990s, where hype drove companies higher and higher until the bubble burst.

“The run right now is really driven by this ETF and people are able to buy it on (a) more liquid basis, so money is flowing in, they're getting rewarded because it goes higher,” he said.

“This is what happened to … the tech bubble in the 1990s that was literally money chasing money until it stopped.”

For more of Zechner's thoughts on Bitcoin, watch the video attached to the top of this article.

With files from Bloomberg News

Canadians paying billions of dollars in 'excess' bank fees: report

KA CHING! HOW BANKS MAKE RECORD PROFITS

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

As the federal government pushes to reduce bank fees, a report from consultancy North Economics figures Canadians are overpaying by billions of dollars a year.

The report by the Alberta-based firm compared fees at the Canadian Big Five banks — RBC, TD, BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank — with what consumers face in the U.K. and Australia.

It shows that Canadians pay much more per month for bank accounts, as well as for fees for non-sufficient funds, overdraft charges, and accessing ATMs at competitor banks.

To get a sense of just how much more Canadians pay, North Economics managing director Alain de Bossart looked at how Canadian and British non-interest retail bank profits compare with their deposits. The measure excludes interest-based profits from mortgages and other loans.

Using the retail banking profits to deposits ratio for 2022, he found that Canada's five biggest banks had $7.73 billion in "excess" income. The number works out to about $250 per Canadian. 

"Canadian banks have done a very good job of extracting as many fees out of people as possible," said de Bossart.

He said he's been wanting to delve into the issue since moving to Canada from the U.K. about seven years ago. 

"The first thing that struck me was that you pretty much have to pay a monthly fee, for just allowing a bank to hold your day-to-day deposits," said de Bossart.

"In the U.K., you can hold multiple bank accounts with multiple banks, and expect to pay no monthly charges at all for a bank account that allows you to do everything you would reasonably expect to do in a month."

The Canadian Bankers Association said in a statement that Canada's banks provide the tools Canadians and small businesses need to manage their finances. 

"Our country’s competitive banking system provides good value, ready access and wide choice for consumers and businesses," said spokeswoman Maggie Cheung. “The banking sector understands the importance of financial well-being to all Canadians, and that many Canadians are feeling additional pressure on their budgets.”

The report highlights that along with major banks in the U.K. and Australia offering free accounts to all consumers, they also charge either nothing or only a few dollars when a customer is hit with non-sufficient funds. Canadian banks charge between $45 and $50 each time.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has been pushing to improve low-cost banking options and lowering non-sufficient fund fees but has yet to do so, which de Bossart said prompted him to look into the issue.

The report also notes that Canadian banks generally charge $5 for overdraft protection, either on a monthly or per instance basis, whereas U.K. banks charge nothing (though banks in the U.K. do charge higher interest on the overdrafted amount). 

Canadian also often face multiple fees when using the ATM of a bank where they don't have an account, which can run anywhere from $1 to $9, while consumers in the both Australia and the U.K. aren't charged anything, he said.

Cheung said the banking sector "understands the importance of financial well-being to all Canadians, and that many Canadians are feeling additional pressure on their budgets.”

She noted that according to recent data from the Bank of Canada, roughly 57 per cent of Canadians either do not pay for a bank account or had their monthly fee waived or refunded.

No-cost accounts are available to groups like young people, students and seniors, but the North Economics report notes there is no free option offered to all Canadians.

It also points out that while customers can avoid paying fees if they keep a high enough balance in their account, that amount can run anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000. That means the lump sump can't be generating more via a different account with better interest rates. 

De Bossart said the lower fees in the U.K. and Australia are in part a result of regulators having a stronger mandate to encourage competition, including through things like making it easier to switch accounts.

“The regulation mandate has really included a competition mandate, so the idea of promoting and enhancing competitive behaviours in the market, whereas in Canada, that's really not something that is being considered."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2024.

 

Pipeline shortages to return sooner rather than later as oil production booms

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

After being hamstrung for years by a lack of export capacity, Canada's oil industry will have reason to celebrate when the much-anticipated Trans Mountain pipeline expansion comes online, expected to be sometime this spring.

But the party may be short-lived, as the more-than-$30-billion pipeline is expected to quickly fill up — returning Canada's oil producers to a "Groundhog Day" scenario of restricted growth and depressed prices.

"I think the industry wanted to believe Trans Mountain was the answer. They wanted everybody to believe that having this new capacity was going to free them from this problem," said Richard Masson, executive fellow with the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy.

"But we've never really been free from this problem."

Export issues have been a thorn in the side of Canadian energy companies for years, due to a lack of pipeline capacity from Alberta's oilsands region to coastal tanker loading facilities.

That shortage of pipeline space, combined with refinery and transportation costs, is the reason Canadian oil producers typically take a price discount on their product compared to U.S. competitors. In a particularly dramatic example, the discount known as the Western Canada Select differential widened so much in 2018 — to US$50 a barrel — that the Alberta government moved to curtail oil production in the province until prices improved.

While the situation has moderated since then, in part to due to the 2021 completion of Enbridge Inc.'s Line 3 pipeline replacement project, the discount on Canadian oil compared to the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate has continued to hover between US$18 and $20 on average in recent years.

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is expected to change that, by making it easier for Canadian oil to get to Asian markets via the West Coast. The high-profile project, which began construction in 2019 and is owned by the federal government, will increase the existing Trans Mountain pipeline's capacity by 590,000 barrels per day to a total of 890,000 barrels per day.

And with that near-tripling of export volumes, comes the ability to turn on the taps when it comes to crude. Many companies have already begun to ramp up production in preparation, and 2024 is expected to be a boom year for oil output in this country.

A TD Economics report suggested Canadian oil production in 2024 could grow by between six and 10 per cent year-over-year, the equivalent of between 300,000 and 500,000 barrels per day.

That's on top of 2023, which was already a record-setting year, and could make Canada the top source of global oil supply growth in 2024.

But it's unlikely the growth will be sustained. Trans Mountain has been plagued by so many construction delays that by the time it does come online, it will quickly be filled. Many in the industry now believe Canadian oil output will exceed pipeline capacity again as early as 2026.

"Everybody's kind of saying, 'OK, we see a pipeline. We're going to be able to grow.' Well, look, everybody's growing at the same time. It (Trans Mountain) is going to be full in no time," Masson said.

For the industry, part of the problem is that other pipeline projects proposed in recent years — Energy East, Keystone XL — never got off the ground due to environmental and political opposition.

Heather Exner-Pirot, special advisor to the Business Council of Canada, said as a result, lack of market access remains the sector's major barrier to growth — a de facto production ceiling.

"There is no technical, logistical or economic reason to not produce more oil in this country. It's just the transportation," she said. 

"And sometimes you think it's strategic, because the whole strategy of the environmental movement was to attack the pipeline industry. And so now there is a de facto production cap, and that is a problem for the industry."

Exner-Pirot said Canadian oil producers, especially the major oilsands companies, have weathered a great deal of turmoil in the last decade — from pipeline shortages to roller-coaster commodity prices to growing concern about emissions and climate change.

At this point, she said, they know how to make money even in the face of constraints like lack of pipeline egress.

Producers also have the option to increase their crude-by-rail shipments, which doubled in the last six months of 2023 as companies waited for news of a Trans Mountain start date.

But Duncan Kenyon with Investors For Paris Compliance, which takes financial positions in Canadian companies in order to hold them accountable for their emissions reduction promises, said he believes the industry's pipeline problem poses a serious long-term investment risk.

Part of it, he said, is because there is no expectation that a new pipeline will be built anytime soon.

"The cost of (the Trans Mountain expansion) has tripled from what it was supposed to be. So we're going to be in this situation where we're at pipeline capacity in the next two years and now we have a really clear indicator of what it costs to build a new one," Kenyon said.

"In two years we're going to be in a game where we don't have exit strategies, in terms of getting oil out of the country."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2024.

 

'Clean slate' to reshape B.C. wine industry, after climate-related catastrophes

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

The heart of British Columbia's wine industry is reeling after suffering a litany of climate-related hits, resulting in two years of crop losses in the southern Interior. 

Record-breaking heat. Wildfires and smoke that repeatedly contaminated grapes. A destructive cold snap in 2022. Then, the hammer blow — another deep freeze this January that is estimated to have inflicted up to 99 per cent crop loss across the province, wiping out this year's vintage.

While vineyards need support, sommelier Van Doren Chan says it's an opportunity to reshape winemaking in the province.

"It's almost like it's a clean slate," she says. "How are we going to structure the next generation of B.C. wine?"

Chan says all signs suggest only a limited selection of B.C. wine will hit retail shelves in coming years while vineyards and wineries recover.

"Talking to a few producers, I think a lot of them will not make it to the retail market," says Chan, a wine and culinary consultant and board member with the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers.

With many undertaking massive replanting efforts — which involve waiting at least three years for vines to produce wine grapes — Chan says she expects wineries will be focused on direct-to-consumer sales and fulfilling orders for their members.

The cost of B.C. wines is likely to rise, continuing a trend that Chan says she's been noticing for several years with crop losses compounded by global inflation.

"For a small wine region, and very young wine region, what we're producing is world class. But it's hard to compare to prices from France or even if we're talking about Argentina or Chile — they produce really high-quality wine at a very competitive price."

Chan says the industry's struggle is also an opportunity to get consumers excited about supporting B.C.'s grape and wine producers for years to come.

"Make it into a marketing campaign and say, 'Hey, we're suffering … We need to raise your price for the next thee years, because we need to re-establish these vines, but then we're going to have all these amazing grapes and you get to try something new.'"

Charlie Baessler with Corcelettes Estate Winery outside Keremeos, B.C., says they're among the producers replanting as much as they can, as fast as they can.

A recent newsletter from the winery says they're scaling back promotional activities to focus on replanting while conserving wine for members and direct sales. 

"We just need to be patient, and wait for our new plantings to once again produce some of Canada's greatest wines," it says.

B.C.'s vineyards and wineries have been "kicked while being down" in the last few years, says Baessler, a partner, viticulturalist and general manager at Corcelettes.

The deep freeze in mid-January saw temperatures in major wine-producing areas of B.C.'s southern Interior drop to -27 C, a temperature that Baessler says is "lethal" for grapevines and their buds, no matter the variety. 

A February report from Wine Growers BC estimates a harvest of only one to three per cent of normal levels, meaning "an almost complete writeoff of the 2024 vintage" and revenue losses of up to $346 million for vineyards and wineries.

The December 2022 cold snap had already led to "total crop loss" for Corcelettes' 2023 vintage, Baessler says.

That's on top of several severe wildfire seasons, which brought thick smoke that can be "catastrophic" for the flavouring and quality of wine, Baessler says. 

The fires also put a damper on tourism throughout B.C.'s southern Interior, reducing the visitors wineries depend on for revenue, he adds.

"Our experience is like a Rubik's cube of challenges that we're constantly navigating," he says. "We haven't exactly been high on the hog to have made bank in order to weather these last two winter events."

Baessler says the team at Corcelettes has decided to replant and rearrange different types of grapes and varietals across the winery's five unique vineyards, which offer varying soil and environmental conditions.

"There are certainly varietals in our existing portfolio that bear more risk than others, so those will certainly be relocated to our lowest-risk vineyard sites."

Miles Proden, president of Wine Growers BC, says there is worry and even panic in the industry given the "steady decline" of grape harvests in recent years.

But many vineyards, like Corcelettes, have been working to adapt to climate challenges, making sure they've got "the right grape in the right place," he says.

"We're in a good place to reset the vineyard for the future," Proden says.

"It's not as though we can't grow grapes and make wine in B.C. It's just that with climate change, there needs to be adjustments."

Still, replanting isn't the only challenge B.C.'s wineries are facing. After two years of crop losses, Proden says wineries need to find enough grapes to sustain the winemaking side of the business, or simply make enough wine to keep their doors open.

"We need to look at some options," he says. It could mean bringing grapes or wine from Ontario, or even Washington state, but governments will need to help with the regulatory changes required to make that happen, even temporarily, Proden says.

The support is crucial, as B.C. wineries employ thousands of people and they're a key part of the rural economy throughout the province, from Vancouver Island to the Fraser Valley, Okanagan, Thompson and Similkameen regions, he notes.

Elizabeth Wolkovich, an ecologist specializing in climate change and plants, says winemaking regions worldwide have been feeling the pinch. In some ways, global heating could improve the climate for wine grapes in Canada, she adds.

But Wolkovich says she hasn't seen any evidence of a grape variety, even a more cold-tolerant hybrid, that could have survived January's freeze.

"The regions on the northern edges, especially, I think, in Canada, are just grappling with this additional factor of the cold snap," says Wolkovich, an associate professor in the department of forest and conservation sciences at the University of B.C.

Baessler, too, says he hasn't seen a vine in the textbook that survives -27 C.

"Once you understand that, it puts them all back on the table."

Baessler says B.C. wines compete on the global stage and contribute more than $3 billion to the provincial economy. The government has many priorities, from health care to housing, but it can't afford to turn its back on the industry, he says.

If support doesn't materialize, "there's going to be a lot of empty, shiny buildings (from) what used to be a really exciting wine industry," Baessler says.

The federal government has a wine sector support program and recently earmarked an additional $177 million over three years. A statement from Agriculture Canada says 207 wineries in B.C. have received support through the program since July 2022.

Earlier this month, Ottawa also announced funding for two initiatives led by the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network "to advance science and research and increase the competitiveness of the sector," the department says.

"There will always be a B.C. wine industry," Proden says. "We make too good of a wine not to."

The climate typically characterized by hot days and cool nights produce crisp vintages that are exactly what today's consumers are looking for, he says.

"Provided we have enough grapes."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2024.

 

UK Energy Watchdog Opens Probe into Abuse of Dominant Position

By Charles Kennedy - Mar 11, 2024

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), the UK’s energy market regulator, has opened an investigation into an unnamed company for alleged abuse of dominant position.

“The opening of this investigation does not imply we have made any findings about whether there has been an infringement of competition law,” said Ofgem, which is investigating via its Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (GEMA).

“GEMA has launched an investigation under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 into suspected breaches of competition law. The investigation concerns a suspected abuse of a dominant position,” Ofgem said.

The probe is in its early stage of initial evidence gathering, the UK energy regulator said.

Ofgem has been frequently investigating energy companies for anti-competitive practices and for failing to comply with the UK’s legislation for consumer protection.

At the end of last year, a company owned by UK-based supermajor Shell was fined by the energy regulator, weeks after the communications regulator also fined part of the customer-facing part of the group. Hudson Energy Supply (HES), a non-domestic market energy supplier which Shell had bought in 2019, was fined with $2 million (£1.6 million) after Ofgem found it “failed its customers by failing to comply with a number of important licence conditions.” Shell insisted the actions leading to the penalties took place before it bought HES.

At the end of 2023, Ofgem – following a detailed investigation – decided to impose a financial penalty on EP SHB Limited (EPSHB), requiring it to pay $30.3 million (£23.63 million) for breaching its generation license in a way that unfairly raised consumers’ bills.  

“Ofgem’s investigation found that between October 2019 and May 2021, EPSHB breached the Transmission Constraint Licence Condition (TCLC) by submitting excessive bid prices at its South Humber Bank gas-fired power station (SHBA) during periods when the ESO needed it to lower its output,” the regulator said.

 

U.S. Remains World's Largest Oil Producer for Sixth Year in a Row

By Charles Kennedy - Mar 11, 2024,

The United States produced more crude oil than any other country in 2023, for the sixth year in a row, with production averaging 12.9 million barrels per day, up from 12.3 million bpd in 2019, which set a global record at the time, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). 

The U.S. also set a monthly global production record in December, hitting 13.3 million bpd that month. 

The potential for any other country to beat this monthly record in the short term is very low, according to the EIA, based on capacity. The only country capable of reaching the U.S. capacity of 13 million bpd is state-owned Saudi Aramco, which recently announced it was halting output capacity expansion plans, which would have brought it up to 13 million bpd by 2027. 

Last year, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia were responsible for 40% (32.8 million bpd) of the world’s crude oil output, followed by Canada, Iraq and China. 

Russian production, according to the EIA, fell by 200,000 bpd last year, due to sanctions and Russia’s OPEC+ voluntary cuts. Saudi production fell by about 900,000 bpd due to OPEC+ quotas and voluntary cuts. 

Related: This Could Be A Gamechanger For Natural Gas In Europe

The increases in output on the U.S. side are thanks to new drilling technologies, with the Permian basin primarily responsible for the increases. 

U.S. production peaked in 1970 at 9.6 million bpd and then went into a state of decline, dropping to 5 million bpd in 2008, with output again increasing in 2009 thanks to hydraulic fracturing and enhanced oil recovery technology. Growth continued from then on, until the COVID pandemic, according to the EIA.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com