The price oil sands producers receive fell to crushing $49.80 a barrel below the international benchmark after a widening to $33 of the spread between the price of Western Canada Select – a blend of heavy oil sands crude and conventional oil – and US crude on Tuesday.
Ottawa could force B.C. to accept Gateway pipeline
By Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun, February 7, 2013
But Alberta reluctant to ask for intervention, fearing it could backfire
Alberta desperately wants a pipeline built across a reluctant B.C., but not badly enough to court Ottawa's constitutional intervention.
Oil and gas industry seeks billion-dollar tax break to lure LNG plants
Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun, February 7, 2013
The Canadian oil and gas industry is asking Ottawa for subsidies that could be worth $2 billion in tax savings to encourage the development of liquefied natural gas plants in British Columbia.
Blow for Suncor as oil sands project in jeopardy after writedown
Nathan VanderKlippe, Globe and Mail, Feb. 05 2013
Suncor Energy Inc. has taken a writedown of nearly $1.5-billion on its Voyageur project, a massive oil sands plant that is now at serious risk of cancellation.
And in an additional potential blow, Suncor faces a $1.2-billion tax bill, which it is disputing.
Environmental protections don't keep pace with resource boom: audit
Andy Johnson, CTVNews.ca, Feb. 5, 2013
A vast disparity exists between Ottawa's rush to develop Canada's natural resources and the rules and regulations governing that development -- resulting in major environmental and economic risks, an audit from Canada’s environment commissioner has found.
Energy minister solidifies federal acceptance of west-to-east oil pipeline
Terry Pedwell, Canadian Press, Winnipeg Free Press, Feb 1 2013
OTTAWA - The federal government is firming up its support of two projects that would see oil from Alberta piped to Atlantic Canada.Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says he gave a tentative nod to one proposal in a meeting with industry giant Irving Oil.
Canada’s Arctic leadership stint worries drillers, shippers and environmentalists
Paul Koring, The Globe and Mail, Jan. 31 2013
WASHINGTON — Canada will begin a two-year stint at the helm of the eight-nation Arctic Council amid a clamour of competing calls for leadership, as the ice recedes and the race heats up to extract resource riches while protecting a fragile and now-exposed environment.
New Brunswick pushes cross-country pipeline as 'game changer'
Jane Taber, Shawn McCarthy, Nathan VanderKlippe, Globe and Mail, January 28, 2013
HALIFAX, OTTAWA and CALGARY —
New Brunswick Premier David Alward is headed to Alberta to inject some political momentum into a proposed $5-billion, cross-Canada oil pipeline that he describes as a nation-building project.
An oil economy built on sands: Canadian crude falls to $50 below global price
Frik Els, MiningDigest.com, January 29 2013
Encana CEO Randy Eresman retires suddenly
Dan Healing, Calgary Herald, January 11, 2013
News release confirms top executive stepping down after 35 years
Dunderdale gives Muskrat Falls the go-ahead
CBC News, December 17, 2012
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale has given the green light to the controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.
Government gets down to details of Muskrat Falls
James McLeod, The Telegram, December 18, 2012
The morning after Premier Kathy Dunderdale formally sanctioned the Muskrat Falls hydroelectricity project, government officials are now getting down to the details. In a series of technical briefings to reporters and politicians, the government laid out the details of legal agreements and the fine print of the deal to develop Muskrat Falls.
Cline Mining misses $2.5M bond payment
Barry Critchley, National Poist, Dec 18, 2012
It’s never good news when a company announces it can’t make a scheduled semi-annual interest payment, and it’s particularly bad news given what such a decision implies for the affected bondholders as they try and reclaim some value.
Manitoba Tories say Hydro projects should only be built for domestic demand
Canadian Press, December 13, 2012
WINNIPEG - Manitoba's Opposition leader says new hydro projects should be delayed and built for domestic needs, not exports.
Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister says a delay is neededto examine how low energy prices in the United States will affect the viability of new hydro dams in northern Manitoba.
How much of Canada’s energy resource lies in foreign hands?
Text By Nathan Vanderklippe; Graphics By Carrie Cockburn & Murat Yukselir, The Globe and Mail, Dec. 03 2012
CALGARY — As Ottawa mulls the fate of two major energy deals – and the implications of foreign ownership in an economy heavily dependant on natural resources – we take a snapshot of who actually owns what in the oil and gas industry.
Ottawa approves Nexen, Progress foreign takeovers
Shawn McCarthy & Steven Chase, Globe and Mail, Dec. 07 2012
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has erected new barriers to investment by state-owned companies, fencing off the oil sands from further control by foreign governments.
Rail's new oil rush
Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal, November 10, 2012
With Files From Reuters And Bloomberg
In a market that is short on pipeline space and heavy crude sells at a big discount, one oilsands producer has found a way around the bottleneck.
Alberta-Alaska railway: Will it be built?
Alaska Dispatch, 21 Nov 2012
Will a railway intended to carry oil products from Alberta to Alaska be built in the next decade? The Canadian company G Seven Generations (G7G) is banking on it, but first it needs investors to fund the project.
Atco eyes $700M to replace high-pressure gas pipelines in Calgary, Edmonton
Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal, November 21, 2012
EDMONTON - Atco Pipelines is proposing to spend about $700 million to replace 260 kilometres of high-pressure natural gas pipelines in Edmonton and Calgary, with homeowners paying an extra $2 per on their monthly bills over five years to cover the work.
BP granted exploration rights off Nova Scotia
Keith Doucette, The Star, 16 Nov 2012
HALIFAX — BP has been granted the right to explore in Nova Scotia’s offshore after the energy giant submitted a $1 billion bid, the highest ever accepted for deepwater exploration rights in Atlantic Canada.
More oil sands in the pipeline than the future will want: IEA
Barry Saxifrage, Vancouver Observer, November 14, 2012
Alberta has already approved far more oil sands production than the world will want according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Alaska-bound rail project could solve Canada’s oil sands problems
Diane Francis, Financial Post, November 16 2012
A group of Canadian businessmen has obtained the blessing of Alaskan tribes and Canadian First Nations to build a railroad through their lands that could carry up to five million barrels per day from the oil sands to the super tanker port in Valdez, Alaska.
A Railway From Canada To Alaska: Ready To Be Built In Six Years
Fyodor Soloview, Press Release, InterBering, 25 Oct 2012
A railway connecting Alaska to the lower 48 states has never been as close to realization as it is at present. Only $4.5 million, to enable the securing of an operating line of credit for a feasibility study, is needed for the Canadian company Generating for Seven Generations, Ltd. (G7G) to launch this long awaited project.
You heard it here: Northern Gateway’s dead
Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail, Oct. 05 2012
The Northern Gateway pipeline that Enbridge proposes to build from Alberta’s bitumen oil to the Pacific coast of British Columbia is, for all intents and purposes, dead.
$1.5B Hinton coal mine planned to fuel Asian power plants
Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal, August 24, 2012
EDMONTON - A proposed coal mine on Hinton’s doorstep could cost $1.5 billion if fully developed and bring more than 500 new jobs to the town.
Rolf Wiborg's Tough Love for Canada
Mitchell Anderson, TheTyee.ca, 22 Aug 2012
A top petro engineer for wealthy Norway says Canada is 'a fantastic country' that's 'totally mismanaged by design.' Fifth in a series.
