CALGARY — If low crude prices are keeping the new boss of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers up at night, he didn't show it when he spoke to a Calgary business audience.
When Tim McMillan started his new job two and a half months ago, oil prices were at US$90 a barrel and the mood in the oilpatch was optimistic.
In a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, he quipped his arrival shouldn't be connected to the subsequent price drop to five-year lows below US$64.
McMillan says oil and gas companies are watching prices closely, but most of them make their plans for the long term.
A CAPP forecast in June — before oil's downward slide — predicted Canada's oil production would grow to 4.9 million barrels per day by the end of the decade, up from 3.5 million last year.
On carbon rules, McMillan says Alberta's current $15 per tonne levy works well and any changes would have to ensure the industry remains competitive.
