The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Feb. 2, edition that Imperial Oil blasted the Alberta government Friday for forcing companies to curtail oil production in the province, calling the move a "drastic, dramatic manipulation in the market" that has made crude-by-rail shipments uneconomic. The Post's Geoffrey Morgan writes that chief executive officer Rich Kruger said, "We think investor confidence in Canada is damaged at a time when we already had confidence issues in Canada." He added that the curtailment order has caused Imperial to reconsider the timing of the $2.6-billion Aspen oil sands project. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced in December that large oil producers would need to scale back production by a total of 325,000 barrels of oil per day in a bid to lift Western Canada Select heavy oil prices, which at the time were subject to crippling discounts relative to United States benchmarks. Imperial, which has invested in refineries that can profit from the spread between heavy blends and gasoline or diesel prices, opposed the order, alongside integrated companies such as Suncor Energy and Husky Energy. Mr. Kruger said curtailment affects 28 out of 421 producers in the province.