This week on the podcast, our guest is Brian Schmidt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tamarack Valley Energy.

Tamarack is a Canadian oil and gas company with operations in Alberta, including the Clearwater and Charlie Lake plays. Brian was also a signatory to a letter, alongside more than 90 leaders from Canadian oil and gas producers, service providers, and midstream companies, sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney on September 15, 2025. The letter called for policy changes to enable companies to make long-term investments in Canada’s energy sector.

Here are some of the questions that Jackie and Peter asked Brian: What makes the Clearwater play unique? What technologies are being used to produce oil in the play, including secondary recovery methods such as waterflooding? What are the regulatory and permitting challenges that are slowing development? How does Tamarack prioritize between using cash for stock buybacks, production growth, or other uses of capital? Would investors be more inclined to fund production growth over shareholder returns if pipeline capacity and supportive policies were in place in Canada? Other topics included whether ESG remains a focus for investors, how the anti-greenwashing provisions in Bill C-59 affect the industry, and whether the recent shift in tone from the federal government has improved sentiment toward Canadian oil and gas. They also discussed the ongoing consolidation in the sector, where smaller players are merging into larger companies.

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This week, our guest is David Nikolejsin, Strategic Advisor at McCarthy Tétrault. David previously served the B.C. government as Deputy Minister for seven years under the Natural Gas Development and Energy and Mines Ministries. He was involved with implementing a successful “one window” approach that helped LNG Canada Phase 1 advance through construction.

In recent weeks, the Canadian federal government has announced several initiatives to fast-track major projects, including the establishment of the Major Projects Office (MPO) and the announcement of the first five projects.

Based on David’s experience in getting projects off the ground, both in government and now working with proponents, here are some of the questions we asked David: How are environmental reviews for major LNG projects currently conducted in B.C., and which level of government—provincial or federal—takes the lead? What advice would you offer the newly appointed CEO of the MPO, Dawn Farrell, as she begins her new role? In what ways have Indigenous rights in B.C. evolved over the past five or so years, and do projects now require Indigenous equity participation to get done? Given that B.C.’s and Canada’s climate goals conflict with the acceleration of LNG exports, should GHG reduction targets be revised to attract more capital investment to B.C.?

Content referenced in this podcast:

• Prime Minister Carney launches new Major Projects Office to fast-track nation-building projects (August 29, 2025)
• Prime Minister Carney announces first projects to be reviewed by the new Major Projects Office (September 11, 2025)
• Globe and Mail, “Internal government list of 32 potential infrastructure projects includes new oil pipeline” (September 4, 2025)

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This week, our guest is Eric Nuttall, Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Ninepoint Partners. Eric manages the Ninepoint Energy Fund (NNRG) and the Ninepoint Energy Income Fund (NRGI).

Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked Eric: How would you compare investing in Canadian oil and gas producers versus U.S. companies? Do you still believe Canada is undervalued relative to the U.S., as you did when we spoke a few years ago? With OPEC announcing on September 7, 2025, that it will add even more supply to the market, why are oil prices remaining so resilient, and what is Saudi Arabia’s strategy? What are your expectations for North American natural gas prices, particularly in Canada, which has experienced exceptionally weak pricing this year? Canada has seen a wave of consolidation in the oil patch—how do you view corporate consolidation in this context? You have long advocated for oil and gas producers to buy back shares, but if Canada succeeds in building new export pipelines for oil and gas, would you support companies growing production to create value rather than relying solely on buybacks? How can new export pipelines be built if investors continue to prefer buybacks over growth? Finally, do you believe Canadian oil and gas companies still trade at a “green discount” due to climate policies that burden the sector?

Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/

Check us out on social media:

X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst
LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research Institute

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