CALGARY—Oil prices are the lowest they’ve been since the Great Recession and mayors in Alberta’s oilpatch are noticing the difference.
“The barber says that he has less customers coming in,” says Tom Tarpey, mayor of Peace River, population 7,000. “I certainly notice less trucks and cars parked at the hotels in town overnight.”
The town in northwestern Alberta is eager to see the economic boost from Shell’s Carmon Creek oilsands project. But in May, the company decided to slow the development by two years while it looks for ways to drive down costs amid a pronounced slump in oil prices.
U.S. benchmark oil dropped below US$41 a barrel in trading on Aug. 19. The last time West Texas Intermediate crude languished in that range was early 2009.
“We don’t anticipate the price of oil increasing in short order,” said Tarpey. “We see a year to maybe two years before the price of oil recovers to the heady days of US$75-plus.”
As a result, Peace River is looking to Alberta’s NDP government for “economic stimulus” in the form of infrastructure projects, he said.
