BOE Report

NAFTA environment watchdog won’t probe oilsands tailings ponds

The three countries that run the North American Free Trade Agreement's environmental watchdog have voted against an investigation into how Canada oversees Alberta's oilsands.The unanimous decision by Canada, Mexico and the United States comes despite recommendations from staff at the Commission on Environmental Co-operation. They had concluded there were enough questions about how environmental rules are enforced on oilsands tailings ponds to justify an investigation.The commission was created [Read more]

Obama signals opening up Atlantic Ocean to drilling for first time, removes areas off Alaska

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration floated a plan Tuesday that for the first time would open up a broad swath of the Atlantic Ocean to drilling, even as it moved to restrict drilling indefinitely in environmentally-sensitive areas of the state of Alaska.The proposal envisions auctioning areas located more than 50 miles (80 kilometres) off the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia to oil companies no earlier than 2021, long after President Barack Obama leaves office. For [Read more]

Key issues on Keystone pipeline as Senate vote nears on the Canadian project

WASHINGTON - The United States Senate is closing in on a vote to authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline this week.But the fate of the $8 billion Canadian project depends not only on what happens in Congress, but also in the courts, at the White House and with Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., the pipeline's developer. TransCanada has been waiting more than six years for approval of the pipeline.The odds of building seem to change almost daily.A lawsuit is tossed out, then some others filed. The [Read more]

Rally against Energy East Pipeline to be held in downtown Halifax

HALIFAX - A group opposed to the development of the Energy East Pipeline is calling on the National Energy Board to open up meetings about pipeline safety, an idea the federal regulator says it is considering.About a dozen people staged a rally Monday in Halifax as the board met with groups during closed-door meetings to discuss the project.Members of Stop Energy East Halifax held signs and a makeshift pipeline with the words "tar sands=climate bomb" in front of the Halifax Central Library.Over [Read more]

LNG pipeline deals with B.C. nets First Nation millions of dollars

VICTORIA - Millions of dollars are expected to flow to a First Nation in British Columbia's northwest as a result of two new deals tied to proposed liquefied-natural-gas pipelines.The Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation says it has signed benefits deals with the Moricetown Band.One deal is tied to TransCanada's proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline and will give the First Nation located between Smithers and New Hazelton $6 million as project milestones are reached.Moricetown is also [Read more]

Oil prices take small jump on death of Saudi king, but no change in policy expected

NEW YORK - Oil prices rose initially on news of the death of Saudi Arabia's powerful King Abdullah, but the increase was moderate and short-lived.The king's death is unlikely to lead to a change in the kingdom's immense crude production or change the course of oil prices in the coming months, analysts say.The benchmark U.S. crude futures contract rose more than $2 a barrel in the hours after the king's death was announced Thursday evening in New York. But by the time commodity markets opened [Read more]

King of Saudi Arabia dead at 90

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, the powerful U.S. ally who joined Washington's fight against al-Qaida and sought to modernize the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with incremental but significant reforms, including nudging open greater opportunities for women, has died, according to Saudi state TV. He was 90. More than his guarded and hidebound predecessors, Abdullah assertively threw his oil-rich nation's weight behind trying to shape the Middle East. His priority [Read more]

Prentice gloomy about quick oil recovery, suggests raising taxes

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Jim Prentice says there's no chance that the province can "ride things out" while waiting for a rebound in oil prices.Prentice says a full discussion must be held with Albertans to find a way to deal with a decline of $7 billion in resource revenues triggered by a fall in world oil prices to below US$50 a barrel."I know there is a thought out there that we should just ride this out and prices will rebound and we'll be back into happier times," Prentice said [Read more]

Prentice says austerity will start at top in bid to balance budget amid low oil

EDMONTON - Premier Jim Prentice says with low oil prices knocking the legs out from under the Alberta economy, austerity will start at the top."We can't expect people in the public sector to tighten their belts unless they see the premier, his office, and the people that work with him in government tightening their belts," Prentice told reporters Wednesday during an announcement at the Edmonton International Airport.He declined to be more specific and wouldn't say if the austerity will include [Read more]

CAPP predicts oil investment will drop by a third as prices languish

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is expecting oilpatch investment to drop by a third — or $23 billion — this year compared with 2014, while output is seen growing at a slower clip than previously predicted.The oil and gas industry group normally releases its annual production outlook every June, but decided to provide a mid-year update on Wednesday given the "meaningful changes" that have occurred in crude oil markets, CAPP president Tim McMillan said in an [Read more]