OILco: GIVE JIM KEATING TO THE NORWEGIANS

Newfoundland's oil and gas company acting CEO, Jim Keating, is touting a solution to Muskrat Falls' almost worthless surplus electricity. He suggests using a ‘shore-to-offshore’ extension cord for future oil production platforms. Presently, the electricity used on offshore production platforms is produced by generators using natural gas feedstock which comes straight from the well bore - no worries about Alpine conditions - or software - leaving a high-cost production platform in the dark. 

Keating is spouting a Norwegian concept. All you have to do is run a 400 km. “power cord from Soldier’s Pond”, Keating told NOIA, out to one of the as yet undiscovered 16 prospects. Keating neglects to mention that the ‘juice’, as Dunderdale used to call the power, is connected to another 1100 km. extension cord, which the Norwegians don’t need to account for. 

And, by the way, how many offshore prospects are there in Jim Keating’s frame of reference? The number is specifically - not approximately or even a guesstimate -  16 - and that’s just in the West Orphan Basin. 

THE BARD THINKS ABOUT COVID SPREAD

 The Waiting Room

She coughs and sneezes - virus strews,
Says got it from the jab for flu?
As patients patiently wait
For doctor- or procedure-date.

Her story’s but a tale of woe,
She catches all that’s on the go,
Waiting room’s a second home
For her and family-ills to moan.

"NAYSAYERS" AND "BOTTOM FEEDERS": OUR DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT NEEDS REMEDY (Part II)

Guest Post by Ron Penney

The following segment is the third of three containing speaking notes from my presentation to the Wessex Society on October 14, 2020. The presentation is available at the Wessex Society of Newfoundland, wessexsociety.ca - Ron Penney

The Democratic Deficit

While the Commissioner declined to get into the broader issues which we urged him to consider he did have a short chapter titled “Dealing with Opposition to the Project” which focused on the reaction of project proponents to the critics and naysayers, or, as my brother Neil, described us - the Muskrateers! 

The Commissioner described the project proponents response to the critics as “at times unbalanced and disproportionate to the commentary.” 

In particular he referenced Mr. Williams characterization of us as “bottom feeders”. 

PENNEY REFLECTS ON "NAYSAYER" STATUS AND THE MUSKRAT INQUIRY (Part I)

Guest Post by Ron Penney 

The following are two segments containing speaking notes from my presentation to the Wessex Society on October 14, 2020. A third part, dealing with the Province's democratic deficit, will be posted on Monday, November 23. The presentation is available at the Wessex Society of Newfoundland, wessexsociety.ca

Part 1 

Setting the Stage:

Unfortunately the delayed release of the Muskrat Falls Inquiry Report on March 5 of this year coincided with the worst public health crisis since the Spanish flue of 1918, which had the effect of dampening public interest in the report and its conclusions. So aside from a few interviews in March this is the first opportunity given to me to comment on the report in some depth. 

The main thrust of my lecture is to deal with a fundamental issue which the Commissioner declined to examine, which is what democratic deficits in our society allowed “a Misguided Project”, to proceed.

ON THE TRAIL OF THE "REAL" PROVINCIAL DEBT (OR) WHEN THE FIGHT BROKE OUT

An auspicious start to a new career on the global lecture circuit recently occurred, your scribe having answered in the affirmative an invitation to address a small public policy group, called Ballicatters. The venue was a well-established local Pub, a perfect place to soberly test new and old material, in preparation for the big leagues. Naturally, I selected a barnburner of a title: “Fiscal Crisis: Will ‘hope’ repair a mess too deep?” Pretty catchy, eh? In pursuit of not just their heads but their hearts, too, I even added a subtitle and chose this one: “The Inevitability of Death by a Thousand Cuts”.

Soon after, the fight broke out.

(That’s not actually what happened, but it is as true as the Government’s accounting of the public debt I had planned to discuss.)