社论转载：不要因为恩卡纳卷铺盖走人而怪罪渥太华

2002年，泛加石油公司（PanCanadian Petroleum）和阿尔伯塔能源公司（Alberta Energy Co.）合并并改名为恩卡纳（Encana）。这在当时是加拿大石油和天然气行业的一件好事。当时，有几家加拿大几家大型能源公司被美国竞争对手收购。恩卡纳（Encana）这个名字来自于“能源”和“加拿大”两个词。它向世人展示，不是你出高价就能把我买断的。

In 2002, when PanCanadian Petroleum and Alberta Energy Co. merged to create Encana, it was a win for the domestic oil and natural-gas business. At the time, several big Canadian energy companies had disappeared, bought out by American competitors. Encana – a portmanteau of “energy” and “Canada” – represented greater ambition than selling to the highest bidder.



两家公司的合并很合适。 泛加石油的历史可以追溯到19世纪。该公司在联邦政府给其当时的母公司，加拿大太平洋铁路公司（Canadian Pacific Railway）的土地上勘探石油。 阿尔伯塔能源公司由亚伯达省前省长劳埃德（Peter Lougheed）于1973年创立。它也从政府手中拿到土地来勘探石油。这些土地后来被发现含有油砂矿。

It was an apt union. The roots of PanCanadian stretched back to the 19th century, and to land given by the federal government to its former parent, the Canadian Pacific Railway. AEC was established in 1973 by Alberta premier Peter Lougheed. It, too, was handed public land – including what turned out to be prime positions in the oil sands.

在2000年代中期，加拿大的石油和天然气市场红火，恩卡纳发展迅速，成为加拿大最值钱和最赚钱的公司。但是，恩卡纳的雄心很快演变成短期思维。

In the mid-2000s oil and gas boom, Encana thrived, becoming the country’s most valuable and profitable company. But Encana’s ambition soon morphed into short-term thinking.



恩卡纳首先试图将自己变成能避税的收入信托公司。也许你还记得收入信托这件事。哈珀政府上台后将收入信托打入冷宫。随后，在2008年春季，在石油和天然气市场泡沫最严重的时候，恩卡纳决定将自己拆成一家油砂公司和一家天然气公司。石油业务起名为Cenovus。天然气公司仍保留了恩卡纳这个名称。

It first tried to turn itself into a tax-avoiding income trust – remember those? – before the Harper government clamped down. Then, in spring, 2008, at the height of the oil and gas bubble, Encana decided its best move was to split itself into an oil sands company and a natural-gas producer. The oil business became Cenovus. The gas side retained the Encana name.

这与2002年两家公司合并的理想背道而驰。

It was the opposite of the ambition of 2002.



恩卡纳也是典型的加拿大人的做法，那就是寻求股票市场所带来的短期回报，而不是把眼光放远，坚持不懈地为公司的长期盈利着想。看看今天那些成功的公司：亚马逊永远不会把它的云计算业务（Amazon Web Services）给划出去。埃克森美孚不会将其天然气业务与石油业务分开。加拿大自然资源公司（Canadian Natural Resources）的成功也是如此，爱德华兹先生（Murray Edwards）在过去的三十年中将这个一无所有的公司变成了一个年营业额达到210多亿元的跨国公司。

It was also typically Canadian, seeking immediate returns from the stock market rather than persevering and charting a course for a more distant horizon. Look at successful companies today. Amazon would never split off AWS, its cloud computing business. ExxonMobil would not split its gas business from its oil operations. The same goes for Canadian Natural Resources, built up from nothing by Murray Edwards over three decades.

上周曝光的有关恩卡纳将总部迁至美国的消息早在十年前就有传闻。即使在艰难的市场中，Cenovus油砂的产量仍在增长。但天然气是一项艰难做的生意。近年来，分离后以纯天然气为业务的的恩卡纳（Encana）曾试图找回丢失的石油业务。

The news last week that Encana is moving its headquarters to the United States was set in motion a decade earlier. Cenovus oil sands production has surged, even in a difficult market. Natural gas has been a much tougher business. In recent years, Encana, spun out as a pure-play gas company, has tried to rebuild the oil business it once shed.



石油公司总部迁走对阿尔伯塔省的打击很大。从镍公司Inco到铝公司Alcan消失，加拿大对这种故事并不陌生。即使恩卡纳多年来一直将生意的重心转移到美国，但关门走人还是是令人痛心。

For Alberta, the loss of a corporate headquarters hits hard. Canada knows this story well – the vanishing of names from Inco to Alcan. Encana had been shifting its focus to the U.S. but its official departure hurts.

这一情况本来是可以避免的。

It also didn’t have to happen.

恩卡纳具有很多优势，包括加拿大政府给予的资源。自2008年以来，恩卡纳的股票已下跌了约90％，包括过去一年的股价下跌了一半。下跌的部分原因是全球能源价格疲软。但更多的是恩卡纳领导层决策不力的结果。

Encana started with a lot of advantages, including a resource base given to it by government. The fact that the stock has lost roughly 90 per cent of its value since 2008, including a share price cut in half over the past year, is partly about weak global energy prices. But it’s even more the result of poor corporate decisions.



阿尔伯塔省省长肯尼（Jason Kenney）指责渥太华要对恩卡纳走人的一事负责，认为总理特鲁多刻意与石油产业过不去。但那是对事实的严重歪曲。

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney blames Ottawa for what has happened to Encana and believes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is deliberately trying to harm the oil patch. That is a severe distortion of the truth.

特鲁多政府已在Trans Mountain的输油管道和液化天然气出口的项目上投资了数十亿元。省长肯尼似乎也忘记了另外两个的输油管道扩建项目（3号线和Keystone XL）很久以前就已获得渥太华的批准，但这两个项目因美国法律和法律纠纷而无法进行。 （如果三个输油管道都顺利进行，起码到2030年为止，加拿大西部地区将有足够的渠道把油和气卖出去。）

The Trudeau government has staked billions of dollars on the Trans Mountain oil pipeline and liquefied natural-gas exports. The Premier of Alberta also seems to forget that two other major proposed pipeline expansions – Line 3 and Keystone XL – were long ago approved by Canada and are mired in a U.S. regulatory and legal web. (If all three pipelines go ahead, Western Canada will have ample oil export capacity well into the late 2030s.)




另一个问题是，恩卡纳的高管们当初把只看短期收益的警告当耳旁风。恩卡纳很可能是跻身加拿大最值钱和最赚钱的公司之列。当然，即使如此，恩卡纳仍会面临从油和气的价格的下跌、管道输油的容量和气候变化的挑战。但是，如果通过庞大而多样化的业务，恩卡纳会在市场上处于有利位置。它的总部也不至于向南搬迁。

In an alternate history, where Encana executives resisted the siren call of short-term gains, the company would likely still rank among Canada’s most valuable and profitable names. It would, of course, be grappling with challenges, from commodity prices to pipeline capacity to climate change. But with large, diverse operations, Encana would be well positioned. Its headquarters wouldn’t be moving south.

看一下恩卡纳的竞争对手，加拿大自然资源公司。在艰难的环境中，加拿大自然资源公司在今年上半年实现了38亿元的利润。同期，恩卡纳的另一个对手Suncor的利润为42亿元。加拿大西部的石油产量在2018年增长了9％，今年有望再增长1.6％。

Look at Encana’s old rival, Canadian Natural Resources. In a tough environment, it booked a profit of $3.8-billion in the first half of this year. Suncor’s profit in the same period was $4.2-billion. Oil production in Western Canada rose 9 per cent in 2018 and is set to rise another 1.6 per cent this year.



把恩卡纳的问题怪罪于渥太华即不准确，也不公平。恩卡纳走下坡路以及其总部搬迁的决定源于十年前该公司董事会所做出的错误决定。理性的人可以辩论特鲁多政府在石油行业的政策上所犯的失误究竟让该行业蒙受了多少损失。但那只是恩卡纳悲剧的一个小插曲。

Blaming Encana’s failures on Ottawa is inaccurate and unfair. Its decline, and the decision to move its head office, stem from poor choices made in a Calgary boardroom a decade ago. Reasonable people can debate to what extent the Trudeau government has made policy mistakes that have hurt the oil patch. But those are a sidebar to Encana’s sad story.

编注：以上是加拿大全国发行的最大日报——《环球邮报》发表的社论。大中报编译。

Note: The Editorial was published by The Globe and Mail. Translated by Chinese News.