BOE Report

As crude hits six-year lows, towns in Alberta’s oilpatch feeling the pinch

CALGARY - Oil prices are the lowest they've been since the Great Recession and mayors in Alberta's oilpatch are noticing the difference."The barber says that he has less customers coming in," says Tom Tarpey, mayor of Peace River, population 7,000."I certainly notice less trucks and cars parked at the hotels in town overnight."The town in northwestern Alberta is eager to see the economic boost from Shell's Carmon Creek oilsands project. But in May, the company decided to slow the development by [Read more]

Northwestern B.C. governments form alliance to win share of resource cash

TERRACE, B.C. - The indirect cost of workers commuting to energy-sector jobs has prompted 21 local governments in British Columbia's northwest to band together and press the province for a greater share of project revenues.Representatives met in Terrace on Saturday to formalize the Resource Benefits Alliance.Stacey Tyers, the group's chairwoman, said workers used to move their families into northwestern B.C. towns for new projects but now most people fly in and out for a job."(Workers) use our [Read more]

NEB OKs Goldboro LNG project to export liquefied natural gas from N.S. terminal

HALIFAX - Pieridae Energy (Canada) Ltd. says it has received Canadian approval to export natural gas in liquefied form to Europe from a proposed LNG terminal in Nova Scotia.The company says the National Energy Board has granted it 20-year licences to import gas from the United States and to export it from the proposed Goldboro LNG terminal.An affiliated company has already received similar approvals from the U.S. Department of Energy.Pieridae is one of three groups that has sought the NEB's [Read more]

Western Canada feeling twin pains of low crude and high gas prices

CALGARY - Western Canada is being hit with the twin pains of the lowest prices for heavy crude in years alongside a significant spike in gasoline prices following a shutdown at a major U.S. refinery.Much of Canada west of Ontario saw gasoline prices jump 15 cents a litre this week for one of the biggest increases on record, says Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com."The price jump was historical," said McTeague. "The last time we saw a jump of that magnitude was 12 cents [Read more]

Alberta government to provide update on climate change review panel

CALGARY - An expert panel on climate change will weigh input from the Alberta public as it determines how the province can best tackle emissions.The five-member panel, chaired by University of Alberta economist Andrew Leach, is embarking on consultations without any pre-set reduction targets in mind and aims to have the "architecture" of a broad policy ready for UN climate talks in Paris this December."Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our province and our world," said NDP [Read more]

Rail versus Pipe: new Fraser Institute report says pipelines safer than rail

CALGARY - TransCanada (TSX:TRP) is pointing to a new study on how pipeline safety stacks up against rail to show why two of its controversial projects should be built.According to the report by the Fraser Institute released Thursday, the rate of incidents or accidents per million barrels of transported crude is 4 1/2 times higher for rail than for pipelines.The think tank crunched data from the federal Transportation Safety Board and Transport Canada between 2003 and 2013 to come to that [Read more]

Vermilion on the lookout for acquisitions to bolster globe-spanning portfolio

CALGARY - Vermilion Energy is looking to go shopping for acquisitions to grow its globe-spanning portfolio, but bargains aren't cropping up just yet.Right now there's a disconnect between what sellers and buyers consider a fair price but that gap is expected to narrow in the coming months, CEO Lorenzo Donadeo said in an interview."We've looked at a number of opportunities, but just couldn't get comfortable with the asking price. But our thoughts are, if prices continue to muddle at these levels, [Read more]

Dozens drop out of ‘biased’ energy board review of Trans Mountain pipeline

VANCOUVER - The National Energy Board has issued 145 draft conditions that Kinder Morgan must meet if its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is approved, including increased consultation with First Nations and upgrading its emergency response.The sweeping requirements were released Wednesday, the same day 35 participants in the board's review said they were dropping out of a "biased" and "unfair" process.The conditions — which could be changed after NEB hearings — would force the company to hold [Read more]

Syncrude faces protection order after heron deaths in northern Alberta

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - Oilsands giant Syncrude is facing an environmental protection order following the deaths of 30 great blue herons at one of its sites."It's guidance to the company," Alberta Energy Regulator spokesman Bob Curran said Tuesday. "We're specifying what our expectations are, what information we expect the company to deliver and in what time frame."Syncrude revealed on the weekend that 29 carcasses from the large shorebirds were discovered last Friday near a pump house at an [Read more]

Alliance Pipeline: could take several days to burn off hydrogen sulphide gas

CALGARY - It could take several days to dispose of hazardous gas that mistakenly got into a major Canada-U.S. natural gas pipeline.Alliance Pipeline, whose B.C.-to-Chicago system has been shut since Friday, started burning off the gas at two locations in southeastern Saskatchewan on Sunday.In an online notice, Alliance said flaring was the safest way to get rid of the gas that was contaminated with poisonous hydrogen sulphide, or H2S.It said people in the Alameda and Arcola areas of Saskatchewan [Read more]