$35/Barrel Oil?

[crunchiespg]

Originally Posted by Shane34

They make more than a nurse, or grocery store worker because we spend numerous time away from families, outside in the cold, the wet, doing sometimes dangerous jobs. If someone in another industry wants a pay raise then they too can find a better paying job away from the comforts of indoors. The world needs plenty of different types of workers. Some are cut out for the stupid life in the oilfield and others aren't.

So what? There's thousands of jobs with equal time away from home, and often in as bad or worse working conditions. A soldier for instance. But there's no way to justify a crack addicted high school drop out deserves more money than a professional graduate nurse who works equally bad hours. And yes I know it's a stereo type, but let's be honest some workers are barely functioning drug addicts. I'm not saying all, or a majority. But there are some, and it shows how much of a cowboy operation it can be.
Same as cash corner in Calgary. Looking for a day's work to fund their next intoxicant of choice.
But the oil field work is unique in its highly over inflated wages. Especially in alberta.

It's over inflated as its in everyone's interest in that industry to make it over inflated. It's a rare business that they can pretty much set any price and the consumer is forced to pay it.
And as history has proved its unstable and leads to boom/bust cycles.

[HVA7mm]

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

So what? There's thousands of jobs with equal time away from home, and often in as bad or worse working conditions. A soldier for instance. But there's no way to justify a crack addicted high school drop out deserves more money than a professional graduate nurse who works equally bad hours. And yes I know it's a stereo type, but let's be honest some workers are barely functioning drug addicts. I'm not saying all, or a majority. But there are some, and it shows how much of a cowboy operation it can be.
Same as cash corner in Calgary. Looking for a day's work to fund their next intoxicant of choice.
But the oil field work is unique in its highly over inflated wages. Especially in alberta.

It's over inflated as its in everyone's interest in that industry to make it over inflated. It's a rare business that they can pretty much set any price and the consumer is forced to pay it.
And as history has proved its unstable and leads to boom/bust cycles.

Some successful professionals and politicians have also been shown to be barely functioning addicts. Not all, but some. As far as an industry that can pretty much set any price and the consumer is forced to pay, do healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies not do the same? I have not enjoyed the hyperinflation that has happened in Alberta, but hey that's the way boom cycles are, it's not unique to Alberta. And no, I do not work in the oil industry or another with a direct spin off. But I will say that I am more than happy to take my paltry wages and see my family everyday, than I would be making the big bucks away from home in a place like Helmet or Zama for the winter. And yes Calgary and Cochrane are expensive, but you will probably not get a lot of sympathy about living costs from people living and working in Fort McMurray, Cold Lake etc.

[sikwhiskey]

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

So what? There's thousands of jobs with equal time away from home, and often in as bad or worse working conditions. A soldier for instance. But there's no way to justify a crack addicted high school drop out deserves more money than a professional graduate nurse who works equally bad hours. And yes I know it's a stereo type, but let's be honest some workers are barely functioning drug addicts. I'm not saying all, or a majority. But there are some, and it shows how much of a cowboy operation it can be.
Same as cash corner in Calgary. Looking for a day's work to fund their next intoxicant of choice.
But the oil field work is unique in its highly over inflated wages. Especially in alberta.

It's over inflated as its in everyone's interest in that industry to make it over inflated. It's a rare business that they can pretty much set any price and the consumer is forced to pay it.
And as history has proved its unstable and leads to boom/bust cycles.

Wages are not over inflated, they are decent though, mainly due to supply and demand. Ever tried to find Good employees for a business? You don't pay them well, they go elsewhere.....supply and demand.
Oh and I agree, nurses are under paid... But when our health care system gets charged $8 to wash 1 towel, $40 to wash 1 set of bed sheets, there is a problem. If any private company ran like the Govt Union Gluttons, it wouldn't make it 1 week. Nothing like spending someone else's money with a never ending supply
Been running a business in the patch for 8 years, You know the costs involved? Last year my company made 1.1 million, after all the leach's from the Fed Govt, Ab govt, Insurance, WCB, Safety- HSE, CORE, fuel tax/cost, Price cuts from Oil Companies, parts, safety inspections, repairs, and labor, My company took home 20% not really worth working 340 days a year eh?
An employee/contractor that earns 200k/year may take home 40% if they are very, very frugal.....Usually between 20-30%, of that 20-30% how much of that money can be stuffed in the bank and left alone after cost of living? 5-10% if your tight with your cash? many still live paycheck to paycheck.
Oil companies do not get market price for their oil in AB, when oil hit its peak around $150 and continued to stay above $100/brl, most companies were getting $75/barrel...... when they could sell it.

[mxz1997]

Originally Posted by jungleboy

I kinda hope it doesn't. I have spent my life trying to live below my means and be financially responsible. We paid our house off about 10 yrs ago and last yr we decided to by an acreage as an investment . This was huge for us because we just have never been in that position before. We took the equity from or house in town and poured it into this acreage we are living at now. ( a new mobile on 1.3 acres. ) The plan was to hang on to the house till spring and hope for a modest increase in value and sell it . The profit being our nest egg . I have no pension and neither does wifey. .The nest egg was to build on and hopefully be able to actually have a hope to retire before I'm dead. So no, I hope prices do not fall apart . And I would not wish that on anyone .

And a very good example of why never to put all your eggs in one basket (eg real estate)

[blackpheasant]

Expect Vladdy will be pulling back from Ukraine any day now and he thought he had all the power....not so much lol

Russia failed to halt the collapse of the rouble on Tuesday, leaving President Vladimir Putin facing a full-blown currency crisis that could weaken his iron grip on power.

A 6.5 percentage point interest rate rise to 17 percent overnight failed to prevent the currency hitting record lows in a "perfect storm" of low oil prices, looming recession and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

For the economy, this means a deeper recession is now more likely next year as the high lending rate will crimp growth. For businesses, it means more uncertainty and less access to funding. For the central bank, it means a credibility crisis.

For Putin, it increases the risk of losing two of the main pillars on which his support is based -- financial stability and prosperity -- and brings an unwelcome policy headache at a time when relations with the West are also in crisis over Ukraine.

"Putin rode the wave of higher oil prices in the years after he came to power, but there is no question that the economics will start to adversely impact the politics," said Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London.

"The pieces are falling into place to start to affect the political sustainability of this regime," he told Reuters.

Putin, who rose to power at the end of 1999, has enjoyed popularity ratings above 80 percent since Russia reclaimed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in March. He has no obvious rivals, with critics accusing him of smothering dissent, and much of the state's big business is in his allies' hands.

There has been little or no sign of panic from a public that gets most of its news from state media that propagate Putin's view that Russia is under attack from speculators and the West.

Unlike the scenes of chaos during the country's financial crisis in 1998, Tuesday morning saw no scramble at currency exchange points and no panic buying of food. There have been almost no protests.

But opinion pollsters say discontent with the rouble's fall and deepening economic gloom will gradually hit the emerging middle class in the big cities and then spread to his support base in the provinces.

"I think he has a store of support that can last 1-1/2 to two years," Lev Gudkov, head of the Levada Center, an independent polling group, said by telephone. "We will see the first signs of discontent in the spring."

Putin is aware that his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, resigned early after a financial crisis and that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's grip on power slipped as the economy crumbled.

LIMITED OPTIONS

Such a time frame means Putin, the government of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, need to act fast. But their options are limited.

The bank has now made three significant interest rate rises in two months -- 1.5 percentage points in October, 1 percentage point last week and the 6.5 points overnight.

The impact has been minimal -- Tuesday's fall against the dollar was the deepest since Russia's rouble crisis and default in 1998, and the rouble has fallen more than 55 percent against the U.S. currency this year.

Russian officials say there is an advantage in that this means exports of vital products such as oil, metals, grain and natural gas reap in more roubles than before -- feeding government revenues.

But it makes international debt payments much more expensive in rouble terms and a credit crunch is looming in 2015, when Russian companies and banks are scheduled to repay $120 billion in debts.

This will be even harder because access to global capital markets is restricted by sanctions over Ukraine, and year-end foreign debt redemptions are looming for this year as well.

Russian officials have said repeatedly the country will not impose capital controls although many analysts say this looks inevitable. Capital flight is expected to be far above $100 billion in 2014 and 2015.

But the central bank can ill afford to keep drawing on gold and foreign currency reserves to prop up the rouble. The reserves have already sunk to around $416 billion compared to more than $509 billion at the start of the year.

Putin's promises of measures to help small and medium-sized business in a speech on Dec. 4 look increasingly empty, leaving the investment climate difficult and businesses worried.

He is left relying on a sharp rise in the oil price. It is currently below $60 a barrel, while a price of around $100 is needed for the state budget to balance.

"No one is now going to invest until they understand what kind of situation we are now in," Igor Bukharov, president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, told Reuters.

He said he had lived through several crises and would just have to try to cope.

"When I was in Austria in the 1990s, our colleagues at a restaurant said they had been in business for 70 years and I asked: 'So what did you do after World War Two?'" he said.

"They said, 'Well we put up an advert saying if you have food, bring it and we will cook it for you.' Therefore I just see every crisis as a crisis ... we must learn how to live through them."

[crunchiespg]

I have a looming concern that the pressure on Russia could do the exact opposite to causing putin's downfall.
Hitler's rise to power, many suggest, was a direct result of the economic conditions the allies forced upon germany. History has a horrible habit of repeating itself. We need to learn from our mistakes of the past.

Most international relations are based upon the assumption that leaders will act rationally. There is some suggestion Putin is actually insane, so maybe if pushed hard enough he will start something big without concern for the consequences.

He obviously doesn't care about pushing the limits, as shown in Ukraine.

[HalfBreed]

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

Hitler's rise to power, many suggest, was a direct result of the economic conditions the allies forced upon germany. History has a horrible habit of repeating itself. We need to learn from our mistakes of the past.

Japan attacked the US in the same time-frame due to sanctions.

[dantonsen]

Originally Posted by crunchiespg

I have a looming concern that the pressure on Russia could do the exact opposite to causing putin's downfall.
Hitler's rise to power, many suggest, was a direct result of the economic conditions the allies forced upon germany. History has a horrible habit of repeating itself. We need to learn from our mistakes of the past.

Most international relations are based upon the assumption that leaders will act rationally. There is some suggestion Putin is actually insane, so maybe if pushed hard enough he will start something big without concern for the consequences.

He obviously doesn't care about pushing the limits, as shown in Ukraine.

I wonder about this. On a real basis russia isnt losing on any money in ruble terms yet. Oil is down but the ruble is down even more. Technically the russian government is far from being hooped. That is what is scarey, last time they went under they were broke on 10-20$ oil.... they have had 100$ oil for years now and have been slugging trillions into the military over the last 12 years.

Putin has alot of popularity and what he wants to do could very well get support... the leader fighting against western powers that bogged their country down with sanctions. Russia isnt some little petty dictatorship in the middle east tryi g to heave scud missiles at neighbours.

The sanctions are a dumb idea, russia is a large economy and has a large impact in asia and europe . Europe has shot their economy in the foot and the effects of russias currency decline is spreading to other currency.

[Bellero]

Russia just increased it's interest rate to 17% this morning and the Ruble took a huge dip.

[silverdoctor]

And it looks like no OPEC meetings til June.

[silverdoctor]

And Talisman has sold...

http://business.financialpost.com/20..._lsa=c5ee-966b