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Still, there are many signs that smaller players are in the mood to grow.

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One of the key upgrades Spyker is seeing companies invest in — including Athabasca Oil Corp., Cardinal Energy Ltd. and Headwater Exploration Inc. — is thermal projects that use heat on heavy oil to make it flow faster from the well.

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“Historically, these were incredibly expensive, and it would be very rare for somebody to finance one of these themselves without issuing equity,” said Spyker.

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“But now a lot of companies are using their own internal cash flows to fund these massive thermal projects,” he added.

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Athabasca reported second-quarter cash flows increased by close to a third. The mid-sized oilsands producer reported that it put another $65 million into its capital budget for thermal oil assets alone, bringing the total to $340 million. It expects to produce thousands of barrels more per day by 2030 on account of that investment.

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Oil a different story than gas

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But the sentiment for natural gas is not as upbeat.

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Tourmaline Oil Corp., Canada’s largest gas producer, reported on Thursday that expenses in the second quarter dented net earnings by 64 per cent compared to the same time last year.

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The company said more production is on the way to power data centre projects as they materialize in the U.S. and Alberta.

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Mike Mueller, a research analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said that the sentiment for natural gas has generally stayed “pretty poor.”

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“That’s somewhat indicative of the basin being somewhat oversupplied on the gas front, at least over the next couple of years,” he said.

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Spyker said Tourmaline’s hopes that natural gas prices in Western Canada would rebound didn’t materialize in the quarter, pointing to futures contracts that don’t show much optimism.

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“It’s not easy to be extremely excited and bullish about (natural gas),” says Spyker. “The supply outlook is fairly bleak, and the demand outlook is equally as bleak.”

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Francois Poirier, president and chief executive officer of TC Energy, speaks during an event at the Canadian Club in Toronto, on April 10, 2025. Photo by Della Rollins/Bloomberg

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TC Energy Corp., which beat analysts’ expectations on rising demand for power, sanctioned about $700 million worth of projects in the second quarter, which brought its total to about $3 billion in 2026.

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The company’s chief executive, François Poirier, expects rising power needs to further increase demand for natural gas in the next decade and that demand should grow.

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“Accelerating power demand accounts for more than half of this increase,” said Poirier in a call with analysts on Thursday. “Nearly 70 per cent of this demand growth is concentrated in the U.S. heartland, Alberta and Mexico regions where TC Energy has a strong incumbent position and significant existing infrastructure.”

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TC Energy now has roughly $7 billion worth of projects nearing approval, up by about $1 billion from the previous quarter.

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Some oil producers are spending more, too. Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. almost doubled its capital expenditure outlook for the year and now expects to spend $355 to $375 million, up from the previous guidance of $180 to $190 million.

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“To capitalize on elevated oil prices during the quarter, we accelerated capital from the back half of 2026 into Q2,” John Jeffrey, Saturn’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Our development team rapidly mobilized to get drilling rigs back in the field a month sooner than originally planned.”

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Spartan Delta Corp. reported a 127 per cent increase in its oil and gas sales leading to a steep jump in profits. The company also increased its capital budget by roughly 10 per cent to as much as $575 million.