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Canada’s oil industry to lose 8,000 jobs in 2015

March 27, 2015

The collapse of oil prices in the second half of 2014 will take a bite out of the Canadian oil industry’s finances, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s Canadian Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Oil Extraction Industry. Revenues are expected to fall by C$43 billion, or 37%, and the industry will post a pre-tax loss of more than C$3 billion and shed close to 8,000 jobs this year.

“With WTI prices now hovering below US$50 and most projections climbing slowly to US$80 a barrel in the next few years, the Canadian oil industry is coming to grips with the new price environment,” said Mike Shaw, economist with The Conference Board of Canada. “Canadian companies have quickly cut billions from their investment plans, as well as instituted layoffs and hiring freezes to minimize losses. Consolidations and reevaluations of spending plans will likely continue through 2015 and 2016.”

Oil investments are expected to fall from C$56 billion last year to C$44 billion in 2015.

Despite the gloomy outlook for oil prices and investment, Canadian oil production is expected to increase in 2015 and through the end of the forecast as billions of dollars already invested in capacity in recent years feed into greater production, The Conference Board of Canada stated.