NY State Geologist muzzled
Environmentalists in New York say “don’t bother us with the facts, our minds are already made up.” Dr. Taury Smith, the New York State Geologist, had the temerity to suggest that activists had exaggerated problems of hydraulic fracturing. After three years of study, he could not find any evidence to support that hydraulic fracturing had […]
On subway experts
The BAPE report decided – rightfully – that Quebecers deserve real answers from real experts. The great thing about the Internet is we have access to more information than ever before. Problem is, some of that information is good and some of it is bad. For example, if your child gets sick, you can get […]
BAPE got it right
The BAPE got the main thing right. The BAPE gave environmentalists almost everything they wanted and industry just what it needed. Environmentalists, of course, are happy to get what they wanted. Industry grumbles quietly, but as announced by our industry association, the BAPE at least gave us what we needed: a path forward. In my Gazette oped I asked […]
Lessons from India
All over the world, people are interested in the Questerre experience in the Utica shale. I have been asked to speak on “Lessons from North America” in Oslo, London, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Berlin, Singapore, Beijing, Perth and where I am right now, New Delhi. As it turns out, New Delhi has a lesson for North America. […]
How much better than best?
This op-ed by Michael Binnion was recently published in the Montreal Gazette Nothing better symbolizes what it means to be Canadian than the coureur des bois. As Canada’s first entrepreneurs they conquered North America not by conquest but by discovery. Since 1608, Canadian history has flowed east to west led by explorers from Cadillac to […]
Selling it twice
Professional protesters in Quebec complain in the media that the price of oil and gas land in British Columbia is higher. “Why didn’t the government charge more in Quebec?” they demand. They might just as easily complain the price of a home in Chibougamau is less than in Outremont. One is remote and undeveloped while […]
Drive-by shootings
Professional protesters in Quebec aim at big oil companies in their drive-by shootings. But who are they really targeting? Stock charts show that the companies most committed to Quebec are most hurt by the protesters. Their invisible victims are the communities and people who did not get jobs in Quebec because of the slowdown in […]
The real experts
We believe it takes a four year university degree in engineering plus twenty years or more of hands on experience to be an expert in drilling wells. At Questerre we have professionals who have this knowledge and experience. We spend a lot of time responding to pseudo experts with and without PhD’s whose opinion is […]
Not so easy
Recently I have been reading a lot in the Quebec media about how easy people think our business is. Land prices should be the same as British Columbia, they say. Royalties should be higher. The government should not have let Hydro Quebec leave the oil and gas business. SOQUIP should not have been disbanded thirty years […]
New group supporting shale gas in Quebec
I thought no one else in Quebec cared about the potential of the oil and gas service sector. Today a new industry association has been born: the Movement to Support Shale Gas (MAGS). This is a fledgling association made up of the Quebecers who have seen first-hand the potential of the oil and gas service […]