2015 was one of the worst years on record for oil and gas producers in Canada. First, the Keystone XL pipeline project was stopped through the tireless efforts of activists on both sides of the border. Then, unrelated to this, the price of oil dropped so much that the industry’s products, especially bitumen from tar sands, became increasingly unprofitable. The low price of crude brought at least 40,000 direct job losses to the Canadian oil industry and as many as 100,000 overall last year. This is a trend that industry insiders predict will continue through 2016.