BOE Report

Rough ride: A look at Canada’s oil sector before and after the collapse

CALGARY - It's been a rough ride for Canada's oil sector since the middle of last year.In June 2014, the U.S. benchmark crude price averaged US$105.79 a barrel. By January of this year, it had shrivelled to just US$47.22 — a drop of about 55 per cent.West Texas Intermediate crude has since been climbing closer to US$60, but executives in the oilpatch aren't holding out hope for sustained recovery just yet.Crude prices fell steadily throughout the second half of 2014 amid burgeoning North [Read more]

Nova Scotia environment minister approves liquefied natural gas project

POINT TUPPER, N.S. - A proposed liquefied natural gas export facility in Cape Breton has received its environmental approval from the Nova Scotia government.The Environment Department says Bear Head LNG Corp. must address 32 terms and conditions to control greenhouse-gas emissions and to reduce impacts on wildlife, water and wetlands at the site near Port Hawkesbury.The company, a subsidiary of Australia-based Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., must also create a consulting committee that includes [Read more]

Up to 185,000 jobs could be lost in oil and gas industry this year, study says

CALGARY - Shrinking budgets in the oil and gas industry could lead to as many as 185,000 direct and indirect job losses in Canada this year, according to a new study by an industry group.The report, released Tuesday by the labour market division of Enform, says the potential losses would represent a 25 per cent drop in the number of jobs the sector supports and are the result of major budget cuts in the oilpatch.The industry is expected to spend $94 billion this year, down from $125 billion last [Read more]

Arctic drilling foes try to stop work on Shell rig; city issues violation notice

SEATTLE - Neither a protest by hundreds of demonstrators nor a permit violation notice from the city will halt Royal Dutch Shell's use of a Seattle seaport terminal as it prepares for exploratory oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, spokesmen say.The violation notice issued Monday by the Seattle Department of Planning and Development said use of Terminal 5 by a massive floating drill rig was in violation of the site's permitted use as a cargo terminal. The 400-foot Polar Pioneer and its support tug [Read more]

US oil and natural gas rig count drops by 6 to 888; down 6 in Texas

HOUSTON - Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by six this week to 888.Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday that 660 rigs were seeking oil and 223 explored for natural gas. Five were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, 1,861 rigs were active.Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost six rigs, Wyoming declined by two and Alaska, Arkansas, North Dakota and Pennsylvania each lost one.Kansas gained [Read more]

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]