Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday December 3, 2014 Ontario benefits as oil prices plunge The steep drop in crude prices that continued Friday hurts oil-rich provinces like Alberta and Newfoundland, but Ontario comes out a winner thanks to increased demand for auto production and overall exports. ÒFor us, itÕs very good news, even if itÕs not so much for the rest of the country,Ó said Mike Moffatt, assistant professor at Western UniversityÕs Ivey School of Business.  ÒWe are a net importer of oil. Obviously, we use oil in our day-to-day lives, but itÕs a big input for our manufacturers as well,Ó he said. ÒItÕs always a good thing when the stuff you buy becomes relatively cheaper,Ó Moffatt said. ÒAnd lower oil prices drive down the Canadian dollar, which helps our exporters.Ó According to the 2014 Ontario budget, every $10 drop in the price of a barrel of crude oil results in a 0.1 to 0.3 percentage point in economic growth for the provincial economy. ÒIf you put it in dollar figures, thatÕs between $1 billion and $2 billion for OntarioÕs economy,Ó Moffatt said. The impact is expected to be even greater here, given that the price of oil has plunged since OPEC decided Thursday to leave its production targets of 30 million barrels a day unchanged despite an oversupply and falling prices. Western Canada Select, the Canadian benchmark, has lost more than a third of its value since June, in step with declines for West Texas Intermediate and the international gauge Brent. WCS spot prices traded Friday at $48.40 a barrel, the lowest in the world. (Source: Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/11/28/ontario_benefits_as_oil_prices_plunge.html Ontario, Alberta, Canada, Oil, Stephen Harper, Kathleen Wynne, manufacturing, economy
{"Image ImageDescription": "Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday December 3, 2014\n\nOntario benefits as oil prices plunge\n\nThe steep drop in crude prices that continued Friday hurts oil-rich provinces like Alberta and Newfoundland, but Ontario comes out a winner thanks to increased demand for auto production and overall exports.\n\n\u201cFor us, it\u2019s very good news, even if it\u2019s not so much for the rest of the country,\u201d said Mike Moffatt, assistant professor at Western University\u2019s Ivey School of Business. \n\n\u201cWe are a net importer of oil. Obviously, we use oil in our day-to-day lives, but it\u2019s a big input for our manufacturers as well,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s always a good thing when the stuff you buy becomes relatively cheaper,\u201d Moffatt said. \u201cAnd lower oil prices drive down the Canadian dollar, which helps our exporters.\u201d\n\nAccording to the 2014 Ontario budget, every $10 drop in the price of a barrel of crude oil results in a 0.1 to 0.3 percentage point in economic growth for the provincial economy. \u201cIf you put it in dollar figures, that\u2019s between $1 billion and $2 billion for Ontario\u2019s economy,\u201d Moffatt said.\n\nThe impact is expected to be even greater here, given that the price of oil has plunged since OPEC decided Thursday to leave its production targets of 30 million barrels a day unchanged despite an oversupply and falling prices.\n\nWestern Canada Select, the Canadian benchmark, has lost more than a third of its value since June, in step with declines for West Texas Intermediate and the international gauge Brent. WCS spot prices traded Friday at $48.40 a barrel, the lowest in the world. (Source: Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/11/28/ontario_benefits_as_oil_prices_plunge.html\n\nOntario, Alberta, Canada, Oil, Stephen Harper, Kathleen Wynne, manufacturing, economy", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2014:12:02 17:49:04", "Image Artist": "Graeme MacKay", "Image Copyright": "Graeme MacKay", "Image ExifOffset": "2068", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2206", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10439", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1008", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "826"}