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BOE Report Staff

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STUDY: Distant earthquakes can affect oil, gas fields

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The powerful earthquake that rocked Japan in 2011 set off tremors around a West Texas oil field, according to new research that suggests oil and gas drilling operations may make fault zones sensitive to shock waves from distant big quakes. It's long been known that large quakes can trigger minor jolts thousands of miles from the epicenter. Volcanically active spots like Yellowstone National Park often experience shaking after a large distant event. Less is known about [Read more]

Moody’s: Quebec train disaster to raise costs for shipping oil by rail

  CALGARY - Credit rating agency Moody's says it expects the deadly train disaster in Lac-Megantic, Que., to make shipping oil by rail more costly, putting pressure on both major railroads and oil producers.Moody's says the disaster will inevitably lead to increased scrutiny and result in regulatory delays from Canadian and U.S. governments.That's expected to increase capital and operating costs for rail companies — as has been the case in the past.Crude producers in North Dakota's [Read more]

Independent tests say oily sheen on Alberta river likely from ALGAE

  FORT CHIPEWYAN, Alta. - Lab tests say a mysterious oily sheen that has covered a long stretch of the Athabasca River in northeastern Alberta is most likely from algae.Consultants hired by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation say the algae bloom is probably the result of high water from record-breaking rainfall combined with unusually warm temperatures.The scientists say dead fish floating on the river probably died as a result of oxygen starvation from the out-of-control algae [Read more]

Oil pulls back after IEA report sees supplies exceeding demand in 2014

By Pablo Gorondi - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The price of oil fell back below $106 a barrel Thursday after a report from the International Energy Agency said oil supplies would exceed the expected rise demand in 2014, partly on the back of growing production in North America. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was down $1.06 to $105.46 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, the Nymex contract peaked at $107.45. The last [Read more]

Head of rail company visits grieving Quebec town

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) -- The head of the rail company whose runaway oil train set off a fiery explosion that left at least 15 people dead and incinerated 30 buildings was visiting the shell-shocked town in Quebec on Wednesday, as officials upped the number of missing to 45. Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of the railway's parent company, Rail World Inc., was expected a day after police announced they were pursuing a painstaking, wide-ranging criminal investigation of the inferno [Read more]

Shell to spend $115 million on pollution control

HOUSTON (AP) -- Shell Oil has agreed to spend at least $115 million to cut harmful pollution at a Houston-area refinery. The oil giant will also pay a $2.6 million civil penalty under the settlement announced Wednesday. Shell settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice after it was accused of violating the federal Clean Air Act. Shell will install a $1 million system to monitor cancer-causing benzene levels along the fence line of its Deer Park [Read more]

Alberta regulator approves oilsands expansion

  CALGARY - Alberta's energy regulator has recommended approval of Shell Canada's plan to expand oilsands production, even though it acknowledges the environmental impacts will likely be so severe and "irreversible" that new protected areas should be created to compensate for the damage. A 413-page report contains an extensive list of recommendations and conditions for both governments and Shell (NYSE:RDS) and contains some of the most strongly worded language yet on the industry's [Read more]

Athabasca on hunt for Duvernay partner

  CALGARY - Athabasca Oil is looking for a joint-venture partner to help develop its land in Alberta's Duvernay shale this year, CEO Sveinung Svarte said Wednesday. The Calgary-based oil company (TSX:ATH) intends to begin a formal process to find a deal, Svarte said at the TD Securities Calgary Energy Conference. Athabasca disclosed nearly a year ago that it was in the early stages of forming a joint venture for its Hangingstone and Birch oilsands properties, though no deal has [Read more]

Crude focus of deadly railway crash, but far more chemicals transported by rail

  MONTREAL - The explosive railway crash in Lac Megantic, Que., has put the focus on the growing transportation of crude oil, but far more hazardous materials, including dangerous chemical compounds, are transported near Canadian communities.Canadian railway companies shipped 86,000 carloads of petroleum products in the second quarter, up 18 per cent from last year and 62 per cent from 2011.But railways transported 154,000 carloads of chemicals during the recent period, 79 per cent more [Read more]

Quebec oil train derailment sparks criminal probe

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — Quebec police are pursuing a painstaking, wide-ranging criminal investigation of the inferno ignited by the derailment of a runaway oil train that killed at least 15 people and left dozens missing in the burned-out ruins of a downtown district. Quebec police inspector Michel Forget ruled out terrorism as a cause, but said that an array of other possibilities remain under investigation, including criminal negligence. Other officials have raised the possibility that [Read more]