The amount of oil in storage in Alberta rose in February, monthly data shows, despite moves by the government of Canada's largest crude-producing province to reduce inventories by imposing curtailments on production.The reason is a sharp decline in crude by rail shipments, analysts say. A significantly narrower discount on Canadian crude compared with U.S. barrels as a result of the curtailments has made rail shipments uneconomic.Alberta had 72 million barrels of oil in storage at the end [Read more]
Full steam ahead for more Alberta crude by rail despite looming election
The Alberta government and oil transportation companies are pressing ahead with plans to move 120,000 barrels per day of crude by rail, ignoring threats to quash the deals from the man tipped to become the province's next premier. Latest polls show United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney is on track to oust the New Democratic Party government in the April 16 election. If successful, Kenney has vowed to rip up contracts signed as part of the NDP government's C$3.7 billion plan to ship [Read more]
Provinces vow to resist Trudeau’s landmark carbon tax
Justin Trudeau's federal government on Monday imposed a landmark carbon tax on four provinces which had defied Ottawa's push to combat climate change, prompting unhappy premiers to say they would challenge the measure. Trudeau, citing international commitments to fight global warming, had made clear for two years he would slap the tax on any of the 10 provinces that did not come up with their own plans by April 1. The measure is opposed by Ontario, the most populous province, where [Read more]
U.S. drillers cut most oil rigs in a quarter in three years
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating to their lowest in nearly a year, cutting the most rigs in a quarter in three years despite a 30 percent hike in crude prices so far in 2019.Drillers cut eight oil rigs in the week to March 29, bringing the total count down to 816, the lowest since April 2018, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. That is the first time the rig count declined for six [Read more]
Suncor restarting unit after planned work at Ontario refinery -media
Suncor Energy is restarting a unit on Friday at its Sarnia, Ontario refinery after planned work, according to report on Blackburn News websiteThe work started on March 19, the report added. It did not specify what kind of unit was involved.()Suncor operates an 85,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Sarnia, Ontario, according to the company website. (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru Editing by James Dalgleish) [Read more]
Suncor says fire extinguished at Alberta oil sands upgrader
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A fire which broke out at Suncor Energy’s U2 upgrader at its oil sands plant in northern Alberta early on Thursday has been contained and extinguished, a company spokeswoman said. Spokeswoman Erin Rees said there were no injuries but declined to say whether production had been affected. “We do not provide real-time status updates on any of our operations. Our focus is on responding and making sure everyone is safe and accounted for,” she said. Upgraders [Read more]
Minnesota regulator confirms approval of Enbridge oil pipeline
A Minnesota regulator has confirmed its approval of Enbridge Inc's Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement, allowing the $7 billion project that will ship more barrels out of western Canada to move forward, the company said on Wednesday. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission initially approved Enbridge's plan to rebuild the aging 1,031-mile (1,660-km) pipeline that runs from Alberta to the U.S. state of Wisconsin in June, but that decision was challenged by Minnesota's governor in [Read more]
Canada trade deficit second highest on record due to cheap crude
Canada's trade deficit shrank slightly to $4.25 billion in January, the second highest on record, as low crude prices continued to eat into the value of exports, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a shortfall of C$3.50 billion. Statscan revised December's deficit to C$4.82 billion from an initial C$4.59 billion.Exports grew 2.9 percent to $47.58 billion - the first increase since July 2018 - as the value of oil shipments jumped by 36.5 percent [Read more]
U.S. oil projects begin to falter as producers curb spending
The number of pipeline and storage terminal projects proposed to move shale to the U.S. Gulf Coast has dwindled amid steps by oil producers to pare exploration spending.Last year, booming West Texas production overwhelmed existing pipelines out of the region, sinking local prices and helping launch nine projects proposing to add 5.4 million barrels per day (bpd) through the first half of 2021. On Monday, Magellan Midstream Partners LP cut its capital spending outlook by $450 million over two [Read more]
Imperial Oil resumes shipping crude by rail
Canadian crude producer Imperial Oil has recently resumed shipping crude oil by rail from its terminal in Edmonton, Alberta, because of a marginal improvement in rail economics, a company spokesman said on Tuesday. The pickup in volumes is good news for the Alberta government, which is relying on rail to help draw down crude storage inventories in Canada's main oil-producing province. "We have started a small amount of shipments that are economic under current conditions," Imperial [Read more]