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CALGARY — From Alberta oilfields to Bay Street boardrooms to the gas station on the corner, the precipitous drop in crude prices is expected to have far-reaching impacts across the country heading into 2015, making it The Canadian Press Business News Story of the Year.
The abrupt turnaround in oil markets was chosen by half of the 50 editors and news directors across the country who participated in the annual survey.
In explaining their pick, many respondents noted the story’s ripple effects beyond the oilpatch. Richard Dettman, business editor at News 1130 in Vancouver, said the halving in crude prices over a six-month span created a “gusher of stories” — the hit to federal and provincial government coffers, the plunging loonie and the benefit to consumers, to name a few.
Lynn Moore, assistant city editor, business at the Montreal Gazette, highlighted several ways in which oil’s decline will reverberate across Canada.
“A sustained period of low oil prices will throw a big wrench into the works of the Canadian economy and collective psyche. Beyond the shifting fortunes of governments and companies that have benefited from high oil prices — or suffered from them — the change will surely play a role in climate-change concerns, pipeline expansions and all manner of consumer choices, notably air travel and vehicle purchases.
Investors, as well as governments, may also be more interested in portfolio diversification.”
After hitting US$107 a barrel around mid-year, the closely watched U.S. benchmark crude plunged steeply throughout the latter half of 2014. The drop intensified in late November when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, facing increasing competition from surging U.S. shale deposits, chose to maintain its output rather than put a floor under prices.
By the end of December, West Texas Intermediate crude was at its cheapest since the Great Recession, closing Monday at under US$54 a barrel.
From the vantage point of consumers, it’s largely a good-news story.
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