BOE Report

Obama on whether he’d consider Republican Keystone bill: ‘I’ll see what they do’

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama spent five minutes disparaging the potential benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline Friday. He then kept it alive with five words.At a wide-ranging year-end news conference Friday, Obama maintained his recent pattern of expressed skepticism about the project: He played down its job potential, said it wouldn't lower gas prices for Americans and, employing the language of pipeline opponents, said it would merely help Canadian "tar sands" companies export [Read more]

Steep oil plunge slams Russia, Venezuela but US, China other big economies stand to benefit

NEW YORK - Oil's plunge is spreading both pain and gain across the globe.The price of a barrel has fallen by about half since June, punishing the economies of some major exporters. Russia's currency has nose-dived, for instance, and investors worry Venezuela could default on its debt.For countries that consume a large amount of the world's oil, it's a different story. The world's four biggest economies — U.S., China, Japan and that of the European Union — all benefit from lower oil [Read more]

New Brunswick government introducing moratorium on hydraulic fracturing

FREDERICTON - Five conditions must be met before New Brunswick will lift a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, Premier Brian Gallant said Thursday in a move that has frustrated the energy sector but pleased environmentalists.The provincial government introduced legislation that would prohibit fracking throughout the province until concerns about health, the environment and First Nations input are addressed.Gallant placed conditions on the legislation including a process to consult with First [Read more]

TransCanada CEO says industry has lived through worse than latest crude downturn

CALGARY - The CEO of TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) says he doesn't see the oil industry's appetite for new pipelines faltering even though crude prices have skidded to the lowest point in more than five-years.In an interview in his downtown Calgary office, Russ Girling said he's seen ups and downs far more drastic over his career and expects the oilpatch will come out of the latest downturn in reasonably good shape."There's a tremendous need to build irrespective of the price of the commodity [Read more]

New York plans to prohibit fracking, citing health issues, dubious economic benefits

ALBANY, N.Y. - Handing environmentalists a breakthrough victory, New York plans to prohibit fracking for natural gas because of what regulators say are its unexplored health risks and dubious economic benefits.New York, which overlies part of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation that has led to a drilling boom in Pennsylvania and other nearby states, has banned shale gas development since 2008, when the state began an environmental review of the drilling technique also known as hydraulic [Read more]

B.C. gives five northern First Nations cash to study LNG-related employment

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. - The B.C. government is giving money to a group of five First Nations to study liquefied natural gas-related job opportunities.The province says the Treaty 8 Tribal Association will get nearly $134,000 for a labour market study that will culminate in a report to be released next year.The project is expected to take 43 weeks and involve a consultant working with the First Nations to look at what skills are needed for future jobs in economic development including LNG.Peace [Read more]

Canadian oil sands exporters narrowly survive vote in European Parliament

OTTAWA - Canadian oilsands exporters narrowly survived a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday that could have once again penalized Alberta bitumen as dirty oil.A proposed fuel quality directive for European Union refineries has been the subject of a well-funded Canadian lobbying campaign for more than two years.Canadian negotiators thought the matter was settled this fall when the European Commission backed off and decided all European feedstock crude would be assigned common carbon [Read more]

Obama signs order withdrawing Alaska’s Bristol Bay from offshore oil and natural gas drilling

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he's removing more than 52,000 square miles of waters off Alaska's coast from consideration for oil and gas exploration or drilling.The president said in a video announcement that Bristol Bay and nearby waters, covering an area roughly the size of Florida, would be withdrawn from consideration for petroleum leases. He called Bristol Bay one of the country's great natural resources and a massive economic engine."It's something [Read more]

Priority No. 1 for incoming U.S. Congress: Keystone XL pipeline, Republicans say

WASHINGTON - A showdown over the Keystone XL pipeline is set for early in the new year, with the Canadian oil project having been anointed as the No. 1 priority of the new Republican-dominated Congress.A Keystone XL bill will be the first item in the Senate after the new Congress convenes on Jan. 6, the next leader of the chamber, Republican Mitch McConnell, announced Tuesday.McConnell also said he'll allow amendments to the bill. That means it could become a venue for horse-trading, as [Read more]

Quebec premier says not interested in exploiting shale gas deposits

MONTREAL - Premier Philippe Couillard has ruled out exploiting Quebec's shale gas reserves — at least for now.Quebecers are largely against hydraulic fracturing and exploiting the natural resource in today's market is not economically viable, he said Tuesday.Couillard made the comments shortly after Quebec's environmental review board concluded the ecological and social risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," outweigh the financial benefits.Fracking is a process whereby a [Read more]