In April, Alberta will be seeing a slight oil production increase following oil production cuts that were first made at the beginning of the year.

 Originally, the cuts were put into place due to Alberta having difficulty moving oil out of the province and having to store it. Production started filling storage, to the point where the price of oil had to drop dramatically.

The move to curtail production was also made in an attempt to lower the differential in price between Western Canada Select and West Texas Intermediate oil.  Since the cuts were first made, the gap between the two has narrowed significantly. 

Earlier in 2019, an oil production increase was put into place. Now, because of increasing storage space and warmer temperatures making it easier to transport oil, April will be seeing another production increase.

In April, Alberta will increase production by 25,000 barrels to a total of about 3.66 million barrels a day. 

Premier Rachel Notley says she believes the oil production plan is working.

“As we fight to get full value for the resources owned by all Albertans, we know that our plan is working as we continue to reduce the amount of oil we have in storage. The decision to temporarily limit production was applied fairly and equitably, and our plan is working to stop allowing our resource to be sold for pennies on the dollar. A short-term production limit is not ideal or sustainable, which is exactly why we have a plan to move more oil by rail in the coming months while we fight for the long-term solution of building pipelines to new markets.”

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