BOE Report

Big Oil’s push for a carbon tax a pragmatic move, not just PR, experts say

CALGARY - It may seem odd to hear Big Oil tout a policy that would make it costlier to do business.But experts say recent calls for a carbon tax have pragmatic — not just public relations — motivations.Michal Moore, an energy economist at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said savvy companies see a higher price of carbon as "inevitable" and want to influence how those policies take shape.That's why the likes of Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) boss Steve Williams have been publicly [Read more]

Risks to Canada’s financial stability inched higher amid oil slump: central bank

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada governor tried to offer calming words Thursday about the disappointing retreat of the country's economy over the first three months of 2015, saying the performance was only a little worse than its projection.But it remains to be seen how that unexpected contraction might influence Stephen Poloz's forecasts for the rest of the year.Poloz made his first public remarks since a recent data release showed Canada's economy shrank in the first quarter at an annualized rate [Read more]

Pilot project to transform oil industry waste water into geothermal energy

CALGARY - In a few weeks a generator in North Dakota will fire up, powered by nothing more than waste water from an oil well.The pilot project is designed to show that it's possible to generate geothermal electricity from the boiling water that comes out of the wells.The concept is something Alison Thompson, managing director of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, has long been calling for in Canada's oilpatch."We've been advocating for many years to do what we'll call the hot [Read more]

100 Canadian, U.S. academics call for oilsands moratorium

A group of 100 leading Canadian and U.S. scientists has issued an urgent call for a moratorium on new oilsands development and listed 10 reasons why no more projects should be permitted."I believe we have a duty to speak up," said Mark Jaccard, an energy economist at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University who spent more than a year drafting a letter to make sure it was scientifically sound.Jaccard was a co-author of a 2014 essay in a scientific journal that made a similar argument. But the current [Read more]

Saskatchewan courts oil and gas investment amid Alberta royalty ruckus

CALGARY - If energy companies are skittish about investing in Alberta, they're welcome to set up shop next door, Saskatchewan's economy minister said Wednesday.Bill Boyd said he's been watching the political debate in neighbouring Alberta over the newly elected NDP government's plans to review oil and gas royalties.Boyd said he's been hearing "a fair bit of concern" from companies at the Global Petroleum Show, a massive exhibition in Calgary this week with some 50,000 attendees from around the [Read more]

National Energy Board chair to make safety inspection reports public

VANCOUVER - The chairman of the National Energy Board is vowing to make pipeline inspection reports public in his latest effort to increase transparency at the embattled regulator.Peter Watson said the reports will be published online beginning in September, in order to inform the public that the board continues to monitor pipelines even after they are built."If a project is constructed like the existing Trans Mountain line, we have all these responsibilities to ensure its safety on an ongoing [Read more]

AltaGas commits to LNG terminal by 2018, challenges international report

CALGARY - The CEO of AltaGas Ltd. says his company is on track to building Canada's first liquefied natural gas export terminal by 2018, challenging an international report that said no such facility will be built in the country by 2020. "We think we'll prove them wrong in this decade," David Cornhill said Monday in an interview following a report last week by the International Energy Agency. Cornhill said the company is making progress on plans for the Douglas Channel LNG terminal in [Read more]

CAPP president: Technology key to meeting G7 climate change goals

CALGARY - A lot can change in 85 years.A G7 goal to shift to a no-carbon economy over the course of this century isn't spooking Canada's biggest oil and natural gas industry group.Tim McMillan, head of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said technology will be key.Advancements that "wouldn't have been conceivable" a century ago are commonplace today, he said."When a country or a world puts its mind to something it can be pretty powerful."But environmental groups had a different [Read more]

G7 puts Canada on the spot, calls for low emissions in energy sector

SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany - Canada's energy sector will have to transform itself to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the long term, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday.He was commenting at the end of the G7 leaders' summit which called on its members to put their energy sectors on a low-carbon footing by 2050, a move with serious implications for Canada's greenhouse-gas-emitting oilsands.German Chancellor Angela Merkel fell short of her goal of pushing her fellow leaders to a broad, [Read more]

Cenovus set to restart production at Foster Creek oilsands project by Monday

CALGARY - Cenovus Energy says it expects to restart production at its Foster Creek oilsands operation by Monday.The 135,000-barrel-a-day facility, which is jointly owned by ConocoPhillips, has been offline since May 23 because of a large wildfire in the area.Cenovus Energy says it will take several days to return to full production, but it expects camps to be fully operational at the start of next week.On June 3, Canadian Natural Resources said production was ramping back up at its Kirby South [Read more]