BOE Report

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]

Oil conference presenters say oilsands environmental record improving

EDMONTON - It's a seemingly small thing, the matter of a dozen or so degrees difference in the water temperature during one part of the lengthy and complex process of squeezing oil from Alberta bitumen.But it's saving energy and shaving a significant amount of greenhouse gases from the production of every barrel."Behind the scenes, the development of these technologies is always happening," said Vicki Lightbrown of Alberta Innovates, one of several partners in the project now being [Read more]

‘Go big’: Inside the $24 million, two-year federal plan to market Canadian oil

WASHINGTON D.C., United States - The multimillion-dollar campaign to market Canadian oil in the U.S. was hard to miss.The Maple Leaf was plastered on the walls of subway stops in Washington, D.C., and it popped up in all sorts of American publications with messages like, "America's Best Energy Partner," and "Friends and Neighbors."Documents obtained by The Canadian Press offer a peek at the behind-the-scenes strategic considerations in 2013, as the federal government conducted a $1.6-million [Read more]

US oil and natural gas rig count drops by 56 to 1,069, Texas down 36, with oil price slump

HOUSTON - Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. tumbled by 56 this week to 1,069 amid slumping oil prices.Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday 825 rigs were seeking oil and 242 exploring for natural gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, 1,803 rigs were active.Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 36 rigs and Louisiana 18. New Mexico declined by five, North Dakota and Ohio each dropped three [Read more]

Job cuts at Talisman, ConocoPhillips in Calgary as crude doldrums continue

CALGARY - It's been a rough week for many in the oilpatch.Talisman Energy Inc. (TSX:TLM), ConocoPhillips Canada and Nexen Energy ULC have all announced job cuts this week.Talisman, which is set to be taken over by Spain's Repsol SA in the coming months, is reducing its workforce by 10 to 15 per cent, mostly at its Calgary head office. That amounts to between 150 and 200 jobs — both contractors and employees."We've reduced our 2015 capital spending program. With that comes reduced activities [Read more]

Oilpatch firms selling stock to shore up finances, but who’s buying?

CALGARY - Energy firms have been looking to raise billions in financing by selling big chunks of their own stock — betting that investors smell a buying opportunity.There's been a flurry of equity offerings in recent weeks as the oilpatch looks for ways to cope with low oil prices.Over the past month alone, Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA), Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE) and Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE) have collectively announced about $3.3 billion in "bought deals." All three have said they'd use the [Read more]

Canada’s transportation safety board says new standards for oil tank cars should come sooner

TORONTO - Canada needs to implement tougher standards for oil trains earlier than a 2025 target, the transportation safety board said Tuesday.The government proposed tougher standards for tank cars this month in response to a string of fiery crashes. The new proposal would require the cars to have a layer of thermal protection and thicker steel walls. It said the new standards should be phased in by 2025.But in a report about a fiery March 7 derailment in northeastern Ontario, the Transportation [Read more]

Fight over Keystone XL project doesn’t stall pipeline boom in US

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a far corner of North Dakota, just a few hundred miles from the proposed path of the Keystone XL pipeline, 84,000 barrels of crude oil per day recently began flowing through a new line that connects the state's sprawling oilfields to an oil hub in Wyoming. In West Texas, engineers activated a new pipeline that cuts diagonally across the state to deliver crude from the oil-rich Permian Basin to refineries near Houston. And in a string of towns in Kansas, Iowa and South [Read more]

US oil and natural gas rig count drops again

HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. fell by 67 this week to 1,125 amid depressed oil prices. Houston-based Baker Hughes said Friday that 866 rigs were seeking oil and 257 exploring for natural gas. Two were listed as miscellaneous. The count is down from 1,809 rigs active a year ago. Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas lost 37 rigs, Louisiana declined by seven, Oklahoma was down five, [Read more]