AS far as diversification goes...I am fairly negative on oil producers and pipeline stocks here, as I see big downside in the months to come.
Here is a snippet from SW article today.
It was a day of turkey and football for our neighbours to the south, but here in Canada, many energy workers were in a gloomy mood as they watched more layoff notices being posted in the oil patch. Oil sands producer Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO: $24.48) is laying off about 200 of its 6,000 employees, according to The Canadian Press. Imperial confirmed the news on its website as it said it was "respond[ing] aggressively to the challenging business environment by reducing capital and operating expenditures." This news comes less than two months after another oil sands giant, Suncor Energy Inc. (SU: $22.64), said it will let go as many as 2,000 workers (or 15 per cent of its work force) over the next year and a half. As well, one month ago, Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE: $6.89) and Husky Energy Inc. (HSE: $5.66) announced a merger that could reduce their combined staff by approximately one in four, affecting around 2,000 jobs. Happily, some companies have been hiring. Coastal GasLink, which is building a pipeline of the same name across Northern British Columbia, provided a November construction update in which it said it has added 528 more field workers, bringing its field work force to over 4,000. "Peak pipeline construction is under way and work on our facilities continues to advance," it cheered. It reckoned that the work is now one-third complete. It should be in service some time in 2023.
In other pipeline news, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden raised eyebrows among proponents of TC Energy Corp.'s (TRP: $58.90) Keystone XL pipeline after he appointed a familiar face as his special adviser on climate -- John Kerry. Mr. Kerry is the former secretary of State who rejected Keystone XL under then-president Barack Obama in 2015. The project was later revived by outgoing president Donald Trump, while Mr. Biden has said he will kill it again. Mr. Kerry's appointment as climate envoy has sharpened fears that Mr. Biden will do just that. Not necessarily, said Canada's U.S. ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, at a panel conference on foreign relations earlier this week. "Times have changed," she said, as quoted in CTV News. "The project itself is not the same project. The company itself [TC Energy] has made enormous innovations, and the sector is enormously innovative -- they're cutting their emissions in important ways." Ms. Hillman also drew attention to Canada's commitment to achieving zero emissions by 2050. All of this could serve to sway Mr. Biden into letting the project live. Were Keystone XL a human child, it would have celebrated its 12th birthday in September. May its teenage years be smoother sailing.