This week's meeting began with Sergeant-at-arms David Richardson calling the meeting to order. After the head table was introduced, Manon Mitchell and Michael Pierson led us in the singing of O Canada.

 

Greeter Garth Toombs delivered the invocation.

 

Thanks go out to our front entrance volunteers Larry Martin, John Seigner and Murray Young.

 

Thanks also go out to Michael Colborne and Red Arrow Motorcoach for sponsoring this week's COG.

 

President Tim led us in the final sing song of 2018, while club secretary Kurt Kowalchuk introduced this week's visitors and guests.

 

As this was the final meeting of the calendar year, secretary Kurt announced all club member birthdays though the end of December.

Past-President Stan Sailor has been moved to the Sarcee Hospice, at 3504 Sarcee Road S.W.

 

The final club meeting of 2018 is the Christmas party on December 18 at the Calgary Golf and Country Club.

 

 

 

President-Elect Rick Erven introduced Kevin Birn, Director, Energy, with IHS Markit. Mr. Birn, who leads IHS Markit's Energy Oil Sands Dialogue, delivered an informative presentation titled Western Canadian Infrastructure Woes.

 

He began by positioning heavy sour crude as a distinct product, separate from lighter grades of crude oil. Despite the pressures we are facing, Canada is becoming increasingly the world's leading supplier of heavy sour crude as other producers, notably Russia, have seen their outputs decrease in recent years.

 

Canadian output is set to decelerate, but we can expect another one to two years of large (over 350,000 barrels per day) additions before the pace of development slows. While the heavy sour crude market has tightened, Canadian producers can remain competitive because their costs have fallen.

 

Canadian producers and governments are facing the challenge of increasing price differentials between Western Canadian Select and the West Texas Intermediate benchmark price because of pipeline constraints. While shipments by rail have reached record levels, and the provincial government has mandated production cuts to support the WCS price, these measures are not sufficient to alleviate the growing inventory of crude oil trapped in Alberta.

 

Beyond pipeline bottlenecks, the Canadian oil patch is facing changing fuel and emission standards that will bring disruptive change to the heavy sour crude market. For example, the International Marine Organization (IMO) is introducing new regulations for sulphur dioxide emissions, and a gradual switchover to liquefied natural gas as a marine transportation fuel.

 

Despite this, demand growth for heavy sour crude is expected for at least the next twenty years.