Last week the Canadian province of Quebec announced it plans to commit fracking suicide (see Quebec to Ban Utica Shale Drilling, Most Other Drilling Too). Quebec’s announcement is a virtual death sentence for oil and gas companies in the province. How? By saying they will ban shale fracking, and by making drilling standards so tight for everyone that even conventional drillers will have a difficult, almost impossible time. We are already seeing the results of Quebec’s announcement. And the result isn’t pretty. Junex, a driller headquartered in Quebec with 1 million leased acres in the St. Lawrence lowlands (where there is Utica Shale), has just announced it is selling out to/merging with Cuda Energy, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. It was either sell out/merge, or go out of business. Thanks Quebec! You’re so “business friendly” (NOT). Quebec is quickly becoming a pariah among all the Canadian provinces, like New York State is on the other side of the border…
