The shutdown of the oilsands industry around Fort McMurray, Alberta due to raging wildfires was the biggest story of 2016 for Canada’s oil industry.
Senior petroleum analyst Dan McTeague says the tragedy was already being coupled by low oil prices.
“But of course in other parts of the country, the effect of low oil prices has certainly been felt beyond Alberta. I’m thinking of course about Newfoundland and Labrador,” he notes.
McTeague says Newfoundland and Labrador’s economy took such a big hit from low prices that the provincial government brought in a budget with deep cuts and higher taxes.
He adds the oil industry in that province had become the biggest source of revenue per capita in the country.
