https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/varcoe-oil-and-gas-hit-multi-year-highs-lifting-sector-but-pinching-consumers
“Remember, we’ve been in a tough place for seven years,” Birchcliff Energy CEO Jeff Tonken said in an interview Tuesday.
“From a Birchcliff perspective, we are thrilled with where these prices are. But you have to wonder how high will they go and what will that do to our economy? That’s the concern.”
Both oil and natural gas markets have been on a run recently as global energy demand and economic activity have rebounded from the lows seen earlier in the pandemic.
Tonken said Birchcliff would need to see commodity prices stay high for 24 months before it would consider spending a lot more capital. It will instead focus on strengthening its balance sheet.
“We are going to pay our debt down to zero, probably by the end of next year,” he said.
“People are so negative against energy, we think that having no debt just takes away all of the risks of our business and then it’s a question of what we do with the free cash flow.”