BOE Report

Encana temporarily takes Deep Panuke out of production due to water problems

HALIFAX - Encana has temporarily taken its Deep Panuke offshore natural gas platform in Nova Scotia out of production due to water problems.The energy company warned in November that water levels in the reservoir were higher than was expected so early in the development, which began production in August 2013.Encana says it plans to resume production at Deep Panuke closer towards winter, when demand for natural gas is the greatest.The gas wells, which are located about 250 kilometres east of [Read more]

Harper government keeps pitching oil pipelines in U.S., even if Alberta won’t

OTTAWA - A new political reality surfaced Wednesday in which Ottawa is aggressively marketing an Alberta pipeline project that the new provincial government says it won't promote and doesn't even want.Finance Minister Joe Oliver's speech Wednesday before a Wall Street crowd makes it clear Ottawa is happy to take over from the Alberta government when it comes to pitching the stalled Keystone XL project in the United States.The federal Conservative government's latest Keystone pitch comes just [Read more]

Shell exploration plans in Alaska stoking concern, hope in Canada

CALGARY - Royal Dutch Shell's plans to explore for oil off Alaska's northwestern coast are being closely watched in Canada with a mixture of hope and concern.Earlier this week, the energy giant cleared a major hurdle when the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved a multi-year exploration plan in the Chukchi Sea, though it still needs to obtain other federal and state permits.Shell isn't active in the Canadian Arctic these days, but both proponents and critics say the U.S. decision has [Read more]

Groups call on National Energy Board to suspend Energy East application

TORONTO - More than 60 organizations are calling on the National Energy Board to suspend TransCanada's application for the Energy East Pipeline.Groups including Greenpeace Canada, the Council of Canadians and the David Suzuki Foundation said in a letter to the federal pipeline regulator that it should suspend the review process while waiting for new information from the company.TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) is due to update its application for the pipeline in the last quarter of this year with a [Read more]

Trican oilfield services business cuts 2,000 from workforce, suspends dividend

CALGARY - Trican Well Service Ltd. (TSX:TCW) says it has cut 2,000 employees from its North American workforce and will stop paying dividends to its shareholders, citing the difficult current and future market conditions facing its oilfield services business.The Calgary-based company also said it's also seeking relaxed terms on debt agreements and in negotiations to sell its Russian and Kazakhstan pressure pumping business, after receiving an unsolicited offer.The update was included with [Read more]

Encana CEO says NDP appreciates importance of oilpatch and will move cautiously

CALGARY - The CEO of oil and gas giant Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) said he believes Alberta's incoming NDP government appreciates the importance of a healthy oilpatch."I think you'd almost have to be from another planet not to understand how important oil and gas is to Alberta and Albertans," Doug Suttles said following the company's annual meeting Tuesday. "I think clearly the industry's having a tough time right now."At the meeting, Suttles fielded questions from shareholders about what the NDP [Read more]

B.C. premier says First Nations opposition a bump in the road for LNG

BURNABY, B.C. - B.C. Premier Christy Clark insists the possible rejection by a First Nation of a liquefied-natural-gas terminal is nothing more than a bump in the road for a multibillion-dollar pipeline project.Clark says she believes reaching a negotiated agreement with the 3,700-member Lax Kw'allams First Nation, on whose territory the terminal would be built, is only a matter a time.Pacific NorthWest LNG wants to transport natural gas from the northeast corner of the province to an export [Read more]

US agency approvals Shell’s Arctic drilling plan off Alaska’s northwest coast

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Just days ahead of a planned protest of Royal Dutch Shell's Arctic drilling program in Seattle, the company on Monday cleared a major bureaucratic hurdle to drill off Alaska's northwestern coast.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the multi-year exploration plan in the Chukchi Sea for Shell after reviewing thousands of comments from the public, Alaska Native organizations and state and federal agencies."We have taken a thoughtful approach to carefully considering [Read more]

Shell Canada pushing back startup of Carmon Creek oilsands project

CALGARY - Shell Canada says its Carmon Creek oilsands project will start up a couple of years later than planned as the company looks to drive down costs.With low crude prices curbing construction activity in northern Alberta, contractors and service providers have been under pressure to sharpen their pencils.Shell is altering the schedule for the first two phases of Carmon Creek so that it can improve its design and retender some contracts, said spokesman Cameron Yost."We are still early enough [Read more]

Saskatchewan group says Energy East pipeline project benefits outweigh risks

SASKATOON - The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities believes that the benefits of the Energy East pipeline project far outweigh the risks.The pipeline would ship oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan to the East Coast.Association president Ray Orb says the pipeline would bring taxation revenues to the rural municipalities that have the pipeline on its land, plus it would create more jobs and also bring in revenue for the province.One of the terminals for the project would be based in [Read more]