BOE Report

Keystone XL pipeline opponents file 2 new lawsuits to challenge project in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. - Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska have filed two new lawsuits over the proposed route, after the state's Supreme Court recently tossed a previous legal challenge.Landowners in Holt and York counties filed lawsuits Friday against pipeline developer TransCanada to stop the Canadian company from using eminent domain power to gain access to their land.Their attorney, Dave Domina, says the lawsuits closely resemble the claim the court dismissed. But he says this time [Read more]

Rickford fetes startup of U.S. pipelines, but says more outlets needed

CALGARY - Canada's natural resources minister was in Texas on Friday to celebrate the opening of two new pipelines that will increase the flow of Alberta crude to the U.S., but said it's "imperative" to diversify beyond that market as the United States becomes more energy self-sufficient.Speaking to reporters by teleconference from the end-point of the newly expanded Seaway pipeline, Greg Rickford said the completion of that project, combined with the recently finished Flanagan South pipeline to [Read more]

Red ink is white knight: Alberta’s Prentice says deficits to solve oil crisis

EDMONTON - Premier Jim Prentice says low oil prices have put Alberta's economy on a razor's edge and the province needs to embrace budget deficits to avoid disaster."We are actually warned by economists that to try to deal with this too quickly could actually trip the province into a recession and make matters worse," Prentice told reporters Friday in a conference call from Houston."So there may, to some extent, be a need to operate at deficits which are acceptable."Prentice has previously [Read more]

Joe Oliver won’t talk about Alberta sales tax; says people are taxed too much

CALGARY - Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver says Canadians are already taxed too much and his government is looking at ways to lower taxes rather than raise them.Despite that position, Oliver says he won't comment on Alberta Premier Jim Prentice musing that he might have to consider a sales tax as the province struggles to deal with low oil prices. "These are decisions that the provincial government will make. I don't have any comment on that directly," Oliver told reporters in Calgary on [Read more]

BP cuts 200 staff, 100 contractors worldwide

LONDON (AP) — BP has announced it will cut an estimated 200 staff jobs and another 100 contracting jobs in light of falling oil prices. The company said Thursday the cuts will be made in onshore roles, not in offshore operational positions. Regional president Trevor Garlick said BP remains committed to its North Sea operations but needs to take “specific steps” given the challenging economic environment. He cited toughening market conditions as a reason for the cuts. [Read more]

Last-ditch pitch: Rickford in Washington to argue for Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON - The Canadian government made a last-ditch pitch for the Keystone XL pipeline Wednesday as the U.S. capital was gearing up for an imminent decision on the project after six years of delay.Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford made the 11th-hour case in meetings in Washington with the U.S. State Department, his counterpart Ernest Moniz and pro-pipeline lawmakers.He apparently received no guarantees, aside from a promise that the clock will start again on a regulatory process that [Read more]

Woe Canada: Prentice says Alberta oil crunch will hurt economies across country

EDMONTON - The aftershocks of Alberta's collapsing petro-economy will shake up homes and businesses from coast to coast to coast, Premier Jim Prentice said Wednesday."We're all in this together," Prentice told reporters on a conference call from Toronto."It has been the Alberta economy that has been driving the national economy in this country for more than a decade."Alberta has accounted for more than 50 per cent of the jobs that have been created in Canada (in that time)."Prentice said Alberta [Read more]

Senate Democrats look to tweak bill on Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats hoped to use Senate consideration of the Keystone XL oil pipeline to get Republicans on the record about climate change and to resurrect parts of a bipartisan energy efficiency bill doomed by pipeline politics last year. The first bill of the Republican-controlled Senate seeks to approve construction of the long-delayed pipeline. Democrats and Republicans plan to use the debate, which is expected to drag into next week, to score political points. Sen. Bernie [Read more]

Prentice pans talk of Alberta recession; calls the suggestion an ‘outlier’

CALGARY - Premier Jim Prentice is scoffing at a suggestion by the Conference Board of Canada that Alberta is likely to face a recession as crude prices continue to plunge."I don't agree with it," he said Tuesday of the Ottawa-based economic think-tank's assessment."I didn't find their analysis to be particularly cogent, to be frank, and the opinion that they put forward is an outlier amongst all of the other opinions that have been put forward by every one of Canada's chartered banks and by [Read more]

Conference Board of Canada says Alberta to likely face recession this year

The Conference Board of Canada says Alberta will likely face a recession this year due to the plunging price of oil. The economic think tank says Alberta’s latest employment and new housing start numbers are holding steady, but if oil prices stay low the province will slip into recession. Chief economist Glen Hodgson says even if oil prices rebound to $65 dollars per barrel he forecasts that investment, profits and consumer spending will be down. Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources [Read more]