In a part of the world where enduring a cold winter is often seen as a badge of honor, the latest cold blast that descended on Canada just before Christmas — and during Christmas in the U.S. — was another one for the natural gas record books. By almost every measure, the recent frigid temperatures, though not long-lasting, set new Canadian records for daily demand, storage withdrawals, and net exports to the U.S., and went well beyond the records set during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. In today’s RBN blog, we delve into the latest record-busting Canadian gas data.
Yeah, it’s winter in Canada, where snow, cold, and long, dark nights are countered by plenty of natural gas to keep schools, businesses, and millions of homes warm across the nation — and in many parts of the U.S., where Canadian natural gas is still an important part of the supply mix. That omnipresent blue flame of combusting natural gas is most appreciated when extreme cold snaps set in across parts — or most of — North America, as was the case leading up to and during the Christmas break this year. Unlike Winter Storm Uri 23 months ago (see East is East, West is West and Terminal Frost), which crippled large parts of the U.S. natural gas network for more than a week as far south as the Houston Ship Channel, the latest barrage of Arctic cold that swept across Canada and into the U.S. — known as Winter Storm Elliott — only stayed a few days, but it still managed to generate some havoc — and new records for the Canadian gas market.
It wasn’t that long ago (February 2021) that we last discussed what seemed to be out-of-this-world, record-setting results for the Canadian gas market in You Rock My World. Those records coincided with the aforementioned gas market chaos that came with Winter Storm Uri, where parts of the U.S. market received a bailout thanks to Canadian gas. Though dealing with its own brutal cold snap at the time and record-setting demand, Canadians were happy to open up the valves and send (then) record amounts of natural gas to their southern neighbor when it needed it most, given that significant amounts of U.S. domestic gas production had been shut in due to wellhead freeze-offs stretching from the Bakken to the Permian. Canadian gas exports were instrumental in preventing widespread loss of life in many Northern states during the worst of Uri’s wrath.
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About the song
“Out of This World” is a popular American song with music composed by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was first recorded by Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra in September 1944. Released as a 10-inch, 78-RPM single by Capitol Records in April 1945, it went to #9 on the Billboard Popular Music Singles chart. The song also appeared in the 1945 film Out of This World, with Bing Crosby singing the part in the film featuring actor Eddie Bracken. The song has been covered by a long list of artists over the years, including Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan, Sammy Davis Jr., Mel Torme, and Tony Bennett. Personnel on the record were: Jo Stafford (vocal), and Paul Weston (orchestration and arrangement).
Jo Stafford was an American traditional popular song singer whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Stafford was married to musician Paul Weston. She released 98 singles and 110 albums during her career. She appeared in several television shows and motion pictures. She has won a Grammy Award and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982. Stafford has the unique honor of having three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one each representing her work in radio, television, and music. Stafford died in Los Angeles in July 2008.
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. He was known as the “Father of Mood Music.” Mostly active from the 1930s to the 1970s, Weston helped to start the Grammy Awards in 1959. He has a Grammy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Married to Jo Stafford, the two had a side-project comedy act where they assumed the role of a bad lounge act called “Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.” He died in Santa Monica in September 1996.
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music who composed more than 500 songs. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, he was a major contributor to the Great American Songbook. He died in New York City in April 1986.
Johnny Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer who would become a record executive when he helped start Capitol Records in Hollywood. He wrote the lyrics to more than 1,500 songs and won four Academy Awards, four Oscar Awards, and a Tony Award. Mercer released seven studio albums. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at Vine Street, a block away from the Capitol Records building that he helped establish. Mercer died in Hollywood in June 1976.
