Canadian Financial Close: Feds offer loans to help Alberta oil

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, Dec. 18 (CNS Canada) – The Canadian dollar was down at market close Tuesday despite the federal government announcing a loan program for Alberta’s struggling oil industry.
The dollar closed at US$0.7433 or US$1=C$1.3454, which compares with Monday’s close of US$0.7463 or C$1.3399.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Tuesday at 14,416.89 up by 54.24 points.
Oil was down Tuesday as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell by US$3.66 to close at US$46.22 per barrel.
The Canadian government announced Tuesday it will provide more than C$1.6 billion in commercial loans for the Alberta oil industry. The loans will be targeted for capital investments, purchasing new technology, infrastructure projects and clean growth.

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In November the price for Alberta crude fell below US$14 per barrel due to a production glut and the price differential with WTI crude. The Alberta price recovered somewhat following the provincial government announced plans to acquire rail cars to move 120,000 barrels per day, for a production cut of 8.7 per cent effective Jan. 1 and calling for a new refinery in Alberta.
Gold was up Tuesday by 80 cents to US$1,249.00 per ounce.

Canada’s agricultural sector faired as follows:

AGT Food and Ingredients———up $ 0.16 at $ 16.86
Buhler Industries—————-unchanged at $ 3.60
Linamar Corp.——————–up $ 0.35 at $ 44.38
Maple Leaf Foods—————–dn $ 0.26 at $ 27.13
Nutrien Ltd.———————up $ 0.30 at $ 61.52
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.—-up $ 0.46 at $ 43.17
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc.–up $ 0.04 at $ 8.30

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)