BOE Report

Saskatchewan court upholds ruling against Dene bid to halt oilsands exploration

REGINA - The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling against a First Nation that wants to halt oilsands exploration on what it calls its traditional territory.Last year a Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled against the Buffalo River Dene Nation's challenge of exploration permits issued to Scott Land and Lease.The First Nation had argued the permits were a violation of treaty rights and the policy of duty to consult was ignored.At the time, the judge in the case ruled there is no duty to [Read more]

Harvest delays startup of BlackGold oilsands project; layoffs reach 105

Korean-owned Harvest Operations Corp. confirmed Wednesday that it will delay the startup of its BlackGold oilsands project while the company continues to pare its workforce in the face of lower oil prices."We unfortunately (have) had to reduce our total workforce number by 105 positions," spokesman Greg Foofat said in a telephone interview"It wasn't done all at once," he said, adding that the reductions have been underway since the beginning of the year."It's just due to the lower expected plant [Read more]

Former employee of energy company arrested after shots fired in Alberta facility

CLAIRMONT, Alta. - RCMP say a former employee of an energy services company in northern Alberta is facing firearms offences after several shots were fired inside the facility.Investigators say the man surrendered after a three-hour standoff Tuesday night at the Halliburton building in Clairmont, north of Grande Prairie.Two employees had locked themselves in a room in the building and hid inside with the lights off.They had no contact with the gunman and it appears he didn't know they were [Read more]

Enbridge looks to transfer Cdn liquids pipeline biz to Enbridge Income Fund

CALGARY - Enbridge Income Fund (TSX:ENF) says it has received a formal proposal that would see the transfer to the fund of the Canadian liquids pipelines business of Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) along with some renewable energy assets.The liquids business is owned by Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and Enbridge Pipelines (Athabasca) Inc."If completed, the transaction would be transformational for the fund, significantly increasing its business scale and scope as well as providing a highly transparent source [Read more]

Credit counselling in high demand in Alberta as oilpatch downturn hits home

CALGARY - The Racette family is on a cash-only diet for the next four years.Dale Racette, a truck driver, and his wife, a school bus driver, are trying to dig themselves out of a $45,000 hole.It wasn't any one thing. The day-to-day costs of raising two children just piled up over 14 years, Dale Racette said from Red Deer, Alta.Two months ago, the Racettes sought the help of a credit counsellor to work out a debt repayment plan. The first step was to shred their six credit cards.Racette says he's [Read more]

ATB Financial says province’s economy slowing significantly, job losses likely

CALGARY - The chief economist of Alberta’s Crown-owned financial institution says the province's economy is slowing significantly due to slumping oil prices.Todd Hirsch of ATB Financial says that will likely mean job losses and curtailed investment in the energy sector.He says housing starts remain stable, but the residential real estate market is soft, which suggests construction activity will cool.Hirsch says people are still moving to Alberta, but in lower numbers.He says the biggest change [Read more]

Oil jumps almost 5 per cent; Saudi Air strikes in Yemen lead to fears of supply disruptions

The price of oil rose sharply on Thursday as mounting tensions in Yemen got traders worried that the flow of crude from the Persian Gulf region could be disrupted.Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states launched strikes on key military installations in Yemen. They aim to oust Shiite rebels who forced the country's embattled president to flee.U.S. crude rose $2.22, or 4.5 per cent, to close at $51.43 a barrel in New York. U.S. crude oil has jumped 17 per cent since hitting a low of $43.96 a barrel a [Read more]

Shell announces 250 job cuts in North Sea operations amid falling oil prices

LONDON - Shell U.K. says it will cut at least 250 staff and contractors in the North Sea, amid sharp drops in the price of oil.The oil company said Thursday the cuts are part of a range of initiatives it has been pursuing to manage costs and improve competitive performance.The price of Brent crude, an international variety of oil, dropped about 50 per cent last year and the industry is scrambling to figure out how to address the price shock.Paul Goodfellow, Shell's upstream vice President for [Read more]

Low oil prices spur North Dakota drill rig count to drop below 100 for first time in 5 years

BISMARCK, N.D. - The number of drill rigs in western North Dakota's oil patch has slipped below 100 for the first time in five years due to the sagging price of crude.There were 98 rigs drilling in North Dakota on Wednesday. That's 100 fewer than on the same day one year ago. It's the lowest since March 2010.North Dakota is the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas. North Dakota has been producing about 1.2 million barrels of oil daily.Industry officials say about 115 rigs need to be drilling [Read more]

Ontario rejects NDP call for ban on hydraulic fracking to extract natural gas

TORONTO - An NDP private member's bill to ban high volume hydraulic fracking to produce natural gas from shale in Ontario was quickly shot down by the Liberal government Wednesday.NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns introduced a private member's bill to have Ontario follow the lead of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and New York and ban fracking.Tabuns said fracking poses substantial risks to ground water, which is combined with toxic chemicals under extreme pressure to fracture shale [Read more]