BOE Report

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]

Northwest Territories minister hopes Mackenzie Gas Project permit doesn’t lapse

CALGARY - The minister in charge of resource development in the Northwest Territories says he hopes the federal permit to build the long-dormant Mackenzie Gas Project will be extended."We don't want to see all the work that's gone into it just disappear and have to be started all over again at some other point in time," David Ramsay said in an interview from Houston, where he got an update from energy heavyweight ExxonMobil Corp.ExxonMobil is the majority owner of Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO), [Read more]

B.C. First Nation rejects more than $1B in first stage of vote over LNG proposal

PORT SIMPSON, B.C. - The first of three votes on a natural gas benefit offer worth over $1 billion has been unanimously rejected by a First Nation on British Columbia's northwest coast.All of the more than 180 eligible voters at a meeting in Port Simpson stood up to oppose the plan to build a liquefied-natural-gas pipeline and terminal in their territory, said Lax Kw'alaams band member Malcolm Sampson.Pacific NorthWest LNG, which is mostly owned by Malaysia-based oil and gas giant Petronas, has [Read more]

Alberta green groups expecting much from Rachel Notley’s NDP government

EDMONTON - Green groups expect much from the New Democrats who painted Alberta orange in the provincial election Tuesday."There's been a commitment for Alberta to be a leader in protecting our environment and we're very much looking forward to follow-through," said Carolyn Campbell of the Alberta Wilderness Association.Premier-designate Rachel Notley spoke often on environmental issues when she was in opposition and environmentalists say they'll hold her to those positions.In her first news [Read more]

New Brunswick premier to seek Notley’s support for proposed Energy East pipeline

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant says he wants to talk to the new premier of Alberta and seek her support of the proposed Energy East pipeline.The NDP's Rachel Notley will become premier after her party defeated the Tories in Tuesday's vote to form a majority government after capturing 53 of the 87 seats in the legislature.Gallant says he didn't see anything during the Alberta election campaign to suggest Notley wouldn't support the pipeline project, but he wants to stress the [Read more]

Energy stocks hit as oilpatch takes stock of NDP election victory in Alberta

CALGARY - The new reality of an orange-tinged Alberta was beginning to sink in across the oilpatch and Bay Street on Wednesday and, though there were some jitters, many are awaiting more details before they pass judgment.The NDP's landslide election victory in a province that's been a Progressive Conservative bastion for 44 years stunned Sonny Mottahed, president and CEO of Black Spruce Merchant Capital in Calgary."I'm pretty shocked, quite shocked," he said. "There's been quite a bit of chatter [Read more]

Toronto Stock Exchange drops nearly 200 points in early trading Wednesday

TORONTO - Energy stocks led the Toronto stock market to a triple-digit drop Wednesday as investors weighed the potential impacts of the election of a majority NDP government in Alberta.Experts say investors are reacting to the uncertainty over how an inexperienced government will balance the budget and whether policies affecting the energy sector will change."Sometimes it's better to have the devil you know than the devil you don't," said Glenn Paradis, portfolio manager at Canoe Financial.The [Read more]

Alberta Elects NDP, Prentice Resigns

EDMONTON — The NDP has won a majority in Alberta by toppling the Progressive Conservative colossus that has dominated the province for more than four decades. The party under leader Rachel Notley swept all 19 seats in Edmonton on Tuesday and made inroads in previously barren NDP territory in Calgary and Lethbridge. The Wildrose party appeared poised to take second place and form the official Opposition, while Premier Jim Prentice and his PCs were trailing in third. Prentice later [Read more]

A whiff of falsehood: Cow pasture carries evidence debunking Obama KXL claim

BAKER, Mont. - U.S. President Barack Obama's claims about the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline have been raising eyebrows lately in this tiny oil-industry town in eastern Montana.The locals smell falsehood — evidence of it lies in a cow pasture just outside their town.The scent of untruth emanates from Obama's oft-repeated claim that the pipeline would simply ship Canadian oil, a statement he's made several times while talking down the project's economic benefit for Americans."This is Canadian [Read more]