Canada's energy sector and politicians across the spectrum were anticipating the government would approve a hotly contested oil pipeline expansion on Tuesday after years of debate and court challenges.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal cabinet met at 0930 Eastern Time (1330 GM) to decide on the fate of plans to boost the capacity of the Trans Mountain project, and an announcement was expected after 4 pm ET.An approval is widely anticipated after the government bought the pipeline [Read more]
EQM raises cost, delays timing of Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline
EQM Midstream Partners LP said on Monday it had raised the estimated cost of its Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia to $4.8-$5.0 billion and delayed the projected completion to mid-2020 due to ongoing legal and regulatory challenges.That is up from the company's last estimate of $4.6 billion and a target to complete the project in the fourth quarter of 2019. EQM made the comments in a federal regulatory filing in which the company said it had submitted a [Read more]
Canada set to approve hotly debated pipeline expansion, Trudeau unlikely to benefit
Canada looks set to approve a hotly-debated plan to expand an oil pipeline this week, people familiar with the process told Reuters, but the move is unlikely to help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rebuild flagging support ahead of an October election.The Liberal government last year took the unprecedented step of buying the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan Canada for C$4.5 billion ($3.4 billion) to ensure the expansion went ahead to help solve crude transportation bottlenecks.If [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for second week in a row
U.S. energy firms reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a second week in a row, with the country's production growth expected to slow as crude prices dropped close to their lowest levels of the year and most drillers cut spending. Drillers cut one oil rig in the week to June 14, bringing the total count down to 788, still the lowest since February 2018, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. That compares with 863 rigs [Read more]
IEA cuts 2019 estimate for oil demand growth on global economy worries
The outlook for oil demand growth in 2019 has dimmed due to worsening prospects for world trade, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, although stimulus packages and developing countries should boost growth going into 2020. The Paris-based IEA, which coordinates the energy policies of industrial nations, revised down its 2019 demand growth estimate by 100,000 barrels to 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), but said it would climb to 1.4 million bpd for 2020. "The main focus [Read more]
Canadian investor Seymour Schulich buys about 5% stake in MEG Energy – Bloomberg
** Canadian investor Seymour Schulich says he bought about 5% stake in MEG Energy Corp , according to Bloomberg** "The markets are right for investing in oil right now due to the surplus of supply of 1% to 2%," Schulich, 79, tells Bloomberg in an interview in Toronto; Schulich's stake is worth about C$75 mln ($56 mln)** Canadian oil producer MEG's shares closed up 12.3% at C$5.12 on Thursday, while Canada's benchmark index ended 0.1% lower** 9 of 17 brokerages [Read more]
Canadian oil output growth forecast halved to 1.4% annually
Canadian oil production will grow by 1.4% annually until 2035, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) forecast on Thursday, halving its forecast from five years ago due to constraints by lack of new pipelines and inefficient regulation. The Calgary-based industry body said output will increase to 5.86 million barrels per day by 2035, a rise of 1.27 million bpd from current levels, representing a 1.4% annual increase. That growth rate is less than half what CAPP projected in [Read more]
TC Energy completes U.S.- Mexico Sur de Texas pipeline
Canadian energy company TC Energy Corp completed the $2.5 billion Sur de Texas pipeline from Texas to Mexico. The project is part of the biggest gas pipe between Mexico and the United States and will increase Mexico's capacity to import cheap U.S. gas by about 40 percent, TC Energy said on Tuesday. Along with liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, pipeline exports to Mexico are expected to be the primary sources of growth for U.S. gas demand over the next decade. Sur de Texas will help [Read more]
Trudeau’s Liberals reject most Senate amendments to major projects bill
Canada's Liberal government has rejected most of the amendments proposed by senators to a bill that will overhaul how major projects like pipelines are assessed, a move criticized by Canada's main crude-producing province, Alberta. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government introduced Bill C-69 to fulfill a 2015 election pledge to streamline and restore trust in Canada's environmental approval process for major projects. The legislation in its original form was fiercely opposed by the oil [Read more]
Alberta government in talks to offload crude-by-rail contracts
The Alberta government has started talks with the private sector about Canadian oil producers taking over crude-by-rail contracts signed by the previous government, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said on Tuesday. The talks follow newly elected Kenney's campaign promise to scrap the former New Democratic Party government's $3.7 billion crude-by-rail deals, which he has slammed as poor value for taxpayers. "There are confidential conversations going on between our government and private sector [Read more]