Canada's Imperial Oil Ltd will delay its C$2.6 billion Aspen oil sands project in Alberta by about a year after the provincial government imposed output cuts to tackle pipeline bottlenecks.The Calgary, Alberta-based company, majority owned by Exxon Mobil Corp , said it had slowed the pace of development of the 75,000 barrels per day project, whose first output was expected in 2022.Alberta introduced oil production cuts earlier this year to deal with tight pipeline capacity, which has [Read more]
IEA sees oil market flipping into deficit in second quarter
The oil market will flip into a modest deficit from the second quarter of this year, with OPEC possessing a hefty supply cushion to prevent any price rally in case of possible supply disruptions, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.The IEA, which coordinates the energy policies of industrialised nations, kept its forecast of growth in global oil demand this year unchanged at 1.4 percent, or 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd).Solid growth in non-OPEC oil output led by the United States [Read more]
LNG Canada expansion to be decided by 2025
Royal Dutch Shell and its partners building a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Western Canada will decide by 2025 whether to double its capacity, the head of the project said.The $31 billion LNG Canada project last October became the first major project in five years to be approved, with first exports of the super-chilled fuel planned for 2025. The second phase of the project will include two new processing lines known as trains that will double the plant's [Read more]
Canada says "in strong position" in consultations on Trans Mountain pipeline
The Canadian government said on Wednesday it is beefing up consultations with aboriginal groups to avoid further delays to the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion and is confident it will meet a deadline to ensure the critical project goes ahead.The pipeline connecting the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific coast, which is essential to getting more Canadian crude to overseas markets, was bought by the government in August 2018 from Kinder Morgan Canada to ensure it gets built.Although its [Read more]
Canadian crude exports by rail uneconomic amid output cuts -Suncor exec
Canada's mandated oil production cuts are preventing Suncor Energy Inc , one of Canada's biggest oil producers, from sending its heavy crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast by rail, a company offic The Canadian oil producer is "interested in rail economics going forward," but the rise in Canadian heavy crude prices since the December mandated production cuts have made rail shipments "difficult to justify," said Steve Reynish, a Suncor executive vice president, at the CERAWeek conference. Gulf Coast [Read more]
Enbridge pipeline delay spooks traders in long-term Canada crude market
North American energy traders are reluctant to take up long-term positions on Canadian crude price moves, preferring to stick to spot deals, as uncertainty around government intervention in the market grows following delays to a critical pipeline project. Enbridge Inc unexpectedly said earlier this month its Line 3 oil pipeline will be delayed until the second half of 2020, dealing another blow to the oil-rich province of Alberta, which is struggling with long-running congestion on export [Read more]
MEG Energy’s fourth-quarter loss widens
MEG Energy Corp reported a bigger quarterly loss, as the Canadian oil sands producer sold bitumen crude at lower prices.The Calgary-based company's net loss widened to C$199 million ($148 million), or 67 Canadian cents per share, in the fourth quarter from C$24 million, or 8 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Production of bitumen, which is a low-grade crude oil, fell to 87,582 barrels per day (bpd) from 90,228 bpd.The company said average realized prices for bitumen fell to [Read more]
Enbridge shares fall 6% after pipeline delay
Shares in Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc fell 6 percent on Monday after disclosing an almost yearlong delay to the start of its Line 3 crude oil pipeline, which would carry heavy Canadian oils to the U.S. market. The delay is another blow to the Canadian oil industry, which has faced bottlenecks in bringing heavy crude to the United States that weighed on Canadian crude prices and prompted the Alberta government to order a cut in production to support oil prices. Enbridge shares [Read more]
TransCanada to raise spot rates to ship crude on Keystone pipeline to U.S.
TransCanada Corp filed with the U.S. energy regulator on Friday to increase spot rates on its Keystone crude pipeline from Manitoba and Alberta to key markets in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast. All increases will be effective April 1, according to filings with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Canada's main oil-producing province of Alberta on Thursday raised the amount of crude that companies can produce in April to 3.66 million barrels per day, an increase of 100,000 bpd [Read more]
U.S. oil rig counts falls to lowest since May 2018
U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil rigs operating to the lowest in almost nine months as some producers follow through on plans to cut spending despite an over 20-percent increase crude futures so far this year. Drillers cut 10 oil rigs in the week to March 1, bringing the total count down to 843, the lowest since May 2018, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. More than half the total U.S. oil rigs are in the [Read more]