BOE Report

Clark: BC to build the cleanest LNG industry in the world

VICTORIA - Premier Christy Clark's Liberal government says it wants to build the cleanest liquefied natural gas industry in the world, but it's saying little about how it plans to make the industry clean. The Liberals say LNG can pave the way to a debt-free future, but others warn about the high environmental price where every tonne of LNG that's produced comes with a tonne of harmful greenhouse gas emissions sent into the atmosphere. Environment Minister Mary Polak says the Liberals have [Read more]

More oil and gas drillers turn to water recycling

MIDLAND, Texas - When the rain stopped falling in Texas, the prairie grass yellowed, the soil cracked and oil drillers were confronted with a crisis. After years of easy access to cheap, plentiful water, the land they prized for its vast petroleum wealth was starting to dry up.At first, the drought that took hold a few years ago seemed to threaten the economic boom that arose from hydraulic fracturing, a drilling method that uses huge amounts of high-pressure, chemical-laced water to free oil [Read more]

IT’S NOT OVER TIL IT’S OVER: Alberta energy minister on Keystone pipeline push

CALGARY - Alberta's energy minister says it's important the province keeps pushing for U.S. approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline until a decision is finally made. "There's every reason to not give up on this file and (to) continue to pursue every possible reasonable way in which to make our case," he told reporters at an Economic Club of Canada summit on Friday. "Until it's over, it's not over. You have to be in the game. You have to keep making the case." TransCanada [Read more]

Ottawa delays Jackpine oilsands expansion decision

EDMONTON - Aboriginal groups near the oilsands are half-heartedly cheering a federal government decision to delay a ruling on whether an environmentally controversial mine project can go ahead. Ottawa was supposed to decide by Wednesday on the fate of Shell Canada's huge Jackpine oilsands expansion in northern Alberta, but a one-sentence notice posted on a government website says the ruling has been delayed 35 days until Dec. 11. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation had asked for a 90-day [Read more]

Report urges Saskatchewan to create heritage fund ASAP

REGINA - A new report accidentally emailed to media by the Saskatchewan government calls for the creation of a permanent fund for future development using one-time resource revenues. The report by former University of Saskatchewan president Peter MacKinnon makes 10 recommendations to develop the fund. It says starting next year, the province should put a cap on how much non-renewable resource revenue it uses for all purposes other than deposits to the futures fund. It also says the [Read more]

Canadian Natural says Primrose leaks ‘totally solvable,’ will check old wells

CALGARY - The president of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. says bitumen leaks at its Primrose oilsands project are "totally solvable" and that the cleanup there is about 80 per cent complete.The company is convinced that the only way the emulsion of bitumen and water could have seeped to the surface is through faulty wellbores at the property near Cold Lake, Alta., Steve Laut said Thursday."This is a technical, operational challenge that is totally solvable," he said on a conference call with [Read more]

Enbridge CEO lauds Alberta B.C. pipeline deal, working on updating pricetag

CALGARY - The CEO of Enbridge Inc. is lauding yesterday's pipeline deal between the premiers of Alberta and B.C. and says the company is working on updating the pricetag for its contentious Alberta-to-West Coast proposed oil pipeline. Al Monaco says the agreement shows leadership on the part of Alberta's Alison Redford and B.C.'s Christy Clark and will help the company's controversial Northern Gateway oil pipeline move forward.Under the deal, B.C. will not ask Alberta for a slice of its oil [Read more]

New Brunswick to proceed with shale gas industry, premier vows in throne speech

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative government is promising to forge ahead with shale gas development as it enters the final year of its mandate, shrugging off fierce opposition from critics who are accusing it of ignoring their concerns.Premier David Alward placed an emphasis on resources development in what is expected to be his final throne speech before an election set for September 2014.Alward said while the industry is only in the exploration phase, there will be [Read more]

Enbridge applies to build $2.6B pipeline, largest yet from N. Dakota’s booming oil patch

BISMARCK, N.D. - A Canadian company has applied to build the largest oil pipeline yet from western North Dakota's booming oil patch and will soon begin courting oil producers to reserve space, a key step in a $2.6 billion project that would move millions of gallons of oil to Minnesota and Wisconsin.Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Energy is proposing the 612-mile Sandpiper pipeline to each day carry 225,000 barrels of oil to a hub in northern Minnesota and 375,000 barrels to one in northwestern [Read more]

B.C., Alberta premiers reach agreement on pipeline deal

VANCOUVER - The premiers of British Columbia and Alberta say they're prepared to work through some of the differences that stand in the way of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, but they've effectively agreed to drop the most contentious issue: B.C.'s demand for a share of the revenue associated with the project. B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Alison Redford have had an uneasy relationship since Clark outlined five conditions to win her support for the [Read more]