The goal of Premier Rachel Notley’s mandated production cut is to reduce the storage glut and get oil prices back to profitable levels. Premier Rachel Notley spoke to the citizens of Alberta Dec. 2 about the ongoing crisis impacting the province’s oil business and its economy. The need for dramatic action was becoming obvious. Oil prices had fallen so low that oil production was uneconomic, curtailing industry investment and forcing job cuts. Her talk was timed to air on the evening news shows, signaling the gravity of the problem. An earlier move to end the glut weighing down the province’s oil prices had barely moved them. Therefore, Notley mandated an oil production cut, a drastic step similar to Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed’s action during the 1980s oil market downturn. The problem necessitating this action has not been solved. Rather, Notley is buying time for the province’s oil export infrastructure […]