ARC ENERGY IDEAS

This week, Jackie and Peter discuss Peter’s recent writing, including his article in The Hub titled “Increasing Canada’s Energy Ambition is an Economic and Geopolitical Imperative” as well as two other pieces, “Geoeconomics and State Capitalism” and “The Cost of Being a Market Hostage.” 

Peter argues that Canada must raise its level of ambition to compete in today’s geoeconomic and geopolitical environment—one where markets are shap...

This week on the podcast, our guest is Brian Schmidt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tamarack Valley Energy. 

Tamarack is a Canadian oil and gas company with operations in Alberta, including the Clearwater and Charlie Lake plays. Brian was also a signatory to a letter, alongside more than 90 leaders from Canadian oil and gas producers, service providers, and midstream companies, sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Septembe...

This week, our guest is David Nikolejsin, Strategic Advisor at McCarthy Tétrault. David previously served the B.C. government as Deputy Minister for seven years under the Natural Gas Development and Energy and Mines Ministries. He was involved with implementing a successful “one window” approach that helped LNG Canada Phase 1 advance through construction. 

 In recent weeks, the Canadian federal government has announced several initi...

This week, our guest is Eric Nuttall, Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Ninepoint Partners. Eric manages the Ninepoint Energy Fund (NNRG) and the Ninepoint Energy Income Fund (NRGI).  

Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked Eric: How would you compare investing in Canadian oil and gas producers versus U.S. companies?  Do you still believe Canada is undervalued relative to the U.S., as you did when we spoke a few...

After a summer break, Peter and Jackie are back with their weekly podcast. This week, they catch up on the events and news headlines from the summer, including: 

• Geoeconomics – recap examples where countries use economic tools to influence foreign affairs – as well as more moves towards state capitalism by the United States, where the government exercises more control over institutions and companies. 
• Canadian oil patch M&A n...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter start by talking about Jackie’s recent op-ed in the Globe and Mail, titled “Yes, absolutely – Canada needs more oil and gas pipelines to our coasts,” also available on the ARC Energy Research Institute website. 

Next, Peter and Jackie review the fundamentals of oil prices, the muted effect of the 12-day Iran-Israel war, and why oil prices have been creeping up despite weaker short-term fund...

The President of the United States signed the “Big, Beautiful Bill” into law on July 4th. The new legislation brings big changes to the future of U.S. clean energy development. It reduces many (though not all) of the Biden-era subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). 

This week on the podcast, our guest is Mike Carr, Executive Director at SEMA Coalition—an organization supporting the U.S.-based solar supply chain. M...

This week, our guest is Mark Maki, Chief Executive Officer of Trans Mountain Corporation. The original Trans Mountain pipeline was built in 1953, and the Expansion Project was completed just over one year ago, nearly tripling the pipeline’s capacity to 890,000 B/d (from 300,000 B/d).  

Here are some of the questions that Jackie and Peter asked Mark: How much do you expect to pay your shareholder (the Canadian Government) in 2025 and...

This week, our special guest is Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global and Chairman of S&P's CERAWeek conference. Daniel is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power”. His most recent book is “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations”. 

Please note that the interview with Daniel Yergin was recorded on June 11th, before the Israel and Iran conflict began o...

This week on the podcast, we discussed Jackie’s recent visit to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, to attend the Energy NL conference. Energy NL is the province’s energy supply and service sector association, which annually hosts the province’s flagship conference on conventional and clean energy. 

This week, Charlene Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Energy NL, joins the podcast to explore Newfoundland and Labrador’s energy p...

North American electricity demand is growing fast, driven by the increasing presence of data centers, as well as other load growth. In Alberta alone, the AESO has reported about 12 GW of requests for load grid connections from data centers. 

This week, our guest is Josh Schertzer, Chief Executive Officer at Beacon AI Centers, which recently announced plans to develop up to 4.5 GW of AI data centers in Alberta, representing an invest...

The past week saw a surge in energy-related political developments in Canada. Prime Minister Carney issued a unified Mandate Letter to his cabinet on May 21, 2025, emphasizing that Canada “must build an enormous amount of new infrastructure at speeds not seen in generations. This includes the infrastructure to diversify our trading relationships; to become an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energies.” 

The newly app...

This week, our guest is Dr. Heather Exner-Pirot, a Senior Fellow and Director of Energy, Natural Resources and Environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, a Special Advisor to the Business Council of Canada, and a Research Advisor to the Indigenous Resource Network. Heather has twenty years of experience in Indigenous, Arctic and resource development and governance. She has published on Indigenous economic and resourc...

After averaging around $US 75/B over the past few years, the WTI oil price fell below $US 60/B in early May. The weakness is driven by growing concerns about a potential recession resulting from US tariffs and announcements from the OPEC+ group that they will accelerate adding supply to the market, just as demand may be softening. 

To help us understand the recent volatility in oil prices, our guest this week is Jeremy Irwin, Global...

Canadians voted for Mark Carney and the Liberal government on April 28th, 2025. In his victory speech, Prime Minister Carney asserted, "It's time to build Canada into an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy." 

This week's podcast delves into the election results and its potential impact on Canadian energy with guest Greg Lyle, the founder and President of Innovative Research Group, a full-servi...

This week, our guest is John Kousinioris, President and CEO of TransAlta, one of Canada's largest power generators. TransAlta owns, operates, and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the US, and Western Australia, producing electricity from renewable sources and thermal generation. 

Here are some of the questions Jackie and Peter asked John: What are the reasons behind TransAlta’s merger wit...

This week, Peter and Jackie discuss the latest news on the Canadian federal election, including takeaways from the leaders' debate on April 17th and the platform released by the Liberal Party on April 19th. The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) had not yet released a full platform document at the time of recording.

Next, they provide an update on investment in clean energy.  Equity values of publicly traded clean energy compan...

To begin this week’s podcast, Peter and Jackie recap the past week's events, including President Trump's tariff U-turn and the escalating US-China tariff war.

Next, the conversation turns to Canada, the upcoming federal election, and Arctic export ports. To help us understand the opportunities and challenges with Arctic ports, Chris Avery, CEO of the Arctic Gateway Group joins the show. The Arctic Gateway Group is an Indig...

This week on the podcast, Jackie and Peter discuss the significant volatility in the financial markets due to the escalating global trade war unleashed by President Trump’s “Liberation Day” on April 2nd. Economists and banks are sounding the alarm about the increased risk of a global recession. At the same time, oil prices have fallen by about $US 10/B due to fears of a recession and news that OPEC+ is adding more supply than expec...