BOE Report

White House says Keystone XL decision will come before Obama goes

WASHINGTON - The White House says a decision will be made on the Keystone XL pipeline while President Barack Obama is still in office, as rumours swirl that the long-delayed project is on the verge of rejection.It's not saying when the decision will come or what it will be.A spokesman for the president was asked Wednesday about the issue after a Republican lawmaker declared that he'd heard from his sources that the Canada-U.S. pipeline will be rejected in an announcement next month.Spokesman [Read more]

Clinton’s dodge on Keystone XL pipeline frustrates many, including questioner

WASHINGTON - A town-hall spectator who elicited a headline-making, non-answer from Hillary Clinton understands perfectly well why she dodged his question about Keystone XL.He understands the pipeline represents a political predicament for the Democratic front-runner."There's enormous pressure from both sides," said Bruce Blodgett, a New Hampshire software developer whose question to Clinton produced news Tuesday across the U.S. and beyond."Any way she answers the question she'll alienate a huge [Read more]

Nebraska judge sets trial for lawsuit over eminent domain use in seizing land for oil pipeline

O'NEILL, Neb. - A judge has scheduled an October trial on a Holt County lawsuit aimed at keeping TransCanada Corp. from seizing land to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline.At a hearing in on Monday in O'Neill, District Judge Mark Kozisek set the nonjury trial date of Oct. 19.Seven Nebraska landowners filed lawsuits after the state Supreme Court tossed an earlier, similar lawsuit, with three justices saying the plaintiffs in the case didn't have standing to sue because they didn't prove [Read more]

B.C. finance minister heads to Malaysia to discuss Petronas LNG deal

VICTORIA - British Columbia's finance minister is travelling to Malaysia to discuss a $36 billion liquefied natural gas project in the province's northwest.Michael de Jong will meet with officials over the next six days to discuss the ratification of a project agreement with Pacific Northwest LNG, a consortium led by Malaysia energy giant Petronas.The province passed legislation this week that allowed it to enter into an agreement with the consortium to build an LNG export terminal near Prince [Read more]

Canada needs to expand crude oil market: Natural resources minister

HALIFAX - Canada needs to expand its market opportunities for crude oil now that a deal on Iran's nuclear program is expected to open up that country's oil supply to international trade, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said Monday.Speaking during a press conference at the Energy and Mines Ministers' Conference in Halifax, Rickford said market access is not a priority, it's an imperative.He said Canada is well-positioned to expand its market given its political and economic [Read more]

Liquefied natural gas project in Cape Breton gets export approval from U.S.

HALIFAX - A proposed liquefied natural gas facility in Cape Breton has received export approval from the U.S. Department of Energy.Bear Head LNG Corp. says the approval would authorize it to bring up to 440 billion cubic feet per year of U.S. natural gas to Canada and to export up to eight million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year to free trade countries.The company says it is now waiting for the same authorization from Canada's National Energy Board.Environmental approval was granted by [Read more]

Area aboriginals want long term clean-up of Nexen spill

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - The clean up of a massive pipeline spill in northern Alberta must be conducted with the long-term future of the land in mind, say area First Nations."Our biggest concern is the land," said Byron Bates, a band councillor of the Fort McMurray First Nation, which sits about 10 kilometres from the five-million-litre bitumen spill.Bates said the area around the spill isn't used as much for hunting, trapping and other traditional purposes as it was before industry built up on [Read more]

B.C. to pass 25-year LNG law, industry asks for better tax treatment

VICTORIA - A liquefied natural gas industry: the British Columbia government fought an election on it, launched an extraordinary summer legislative session and made financial concessions, but it still isn't enough for the companies that want even lower taxes and have expressed concerns over the availability of workers.The Liberal government's LNG dream is expected to move towards reality this week when a bill is adopted for a 25-year agreement on what could be B.C.'s first LNG plant.B.C.'s [Read more]

Nexen pipeline spill in northern Alberta under clean-up order from regulator

EDMONTON - The clean-up of a pipeline spill south of Fort McMurray is underway, but the cause of the contamination has yet to be confirmed.Vacuum trucks were on site Saturday and fencing went up to keep wildlife away near Nexen Energy's Long Lake oilsands facility, said Kim Blanchette, a spokesperson for the Alberta Energy Regulator.However Blanchette could not say what caused the breach in the double-walled pipe that spilled five million litres of oil emulsion into the area around the [Read more]

Against the Wall: Notley spat with Saskatchewan premier exposes friction on oil

EDMONTON - Brad Wall says the time for soft-selling the oil and gas industry in the rest of the country is over.The Saskatchewan premier took rookie Premier Rachel Notley to task this week for suggesting Quebec would approve of the Energy East oil pipeline if Alberta could show it has its environmental house in order.Wall suggested that was akin to giving Quebec a veto over an important national energy project. He then took shots at Central and Eastern Canada for soaking up transfer payments [Read more]