BOE Report

Alberta city wants sage grouse order quashed

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. - A southern Alberta city and an oil and gas company are asking the courts to quash a federal emergency order that protects the sage grouse.The City of Medicine Hat and LGX Oil & Gas Inc. filed an application Friday in Federal Court seeking a judicial review of the order.The application asks the court to quash, alter or suspend the order for six months so the federal environment minister can consult with them.The affected lands include most of the city-owned oil [Read more]

After train fires, US feds warn Bakken oil may be more flammable than other forms of oil

BILLINGS, Mont. - Following a string of explosive accidents, federal officials said Thursday that crude oil being shipped by rail from the Northern Plains across the U.S. and Canada may be more flammable than traditional forms of oil.A safety alert issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation warns the public, emergency responders and shippers about the potential high volatility of crude from the Bakken oil shale patch. The massive oil reserve is fueling the surging industry in eastern [Read more]

Alberta facing aboriginal legal onslaught over oilsands in 2014

EDMONTON - Simmering disputes over the oilsands between Alberta aboriginals and the provincial and federal governments will break into the open in 2014 as virtually every one of the many recent changes in oversight of the controversial industry comes under legal and political attack. "All litigation, all the time, is what I see on the horizon," said Larry Innes, lawyer for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. Over the last 18 months, Ottawa and Edmonton have rewritten the book on resource [Read more]

Small B.C. chamber slams proposed pipeline

VANCOUVER - A group representing hundreds of businesses in the Vancouver Island tourism mecca of Tofino, B.C., is criticizing the BC Chamber of Commerce for its stand on the Northern Gateway pipeline project.Earlier this month, the BC Chamber of Commerce released the results of a poll that found 47 per cent of British Columbians support the pipeline that would carry bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to the West Coast.It also released a letter that declared its "strong support" for the oil pipeline [Read more]

Oil above US$100 on upbeat economic outlook

Crude oil closed above US$100 a barrel Friday, the first time it has crossed that threshold since October.Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery rose 77 cents to close at $100.32 in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.The price got a boost from a drop in applications for unemployment benefits and expectations of a decline in U.S. crude stockpiles.Both inspired optimism about the U.S. economic recovery and, in turn, lifted expectations for energy demand.The last [Read more]

Kitimat chief wants jobs for people in town expecting bust-to-boom times

VICTORIA - A decade ago, Kitamaat Village in northwest British Columbia was broke as residents of the First Nations community faced non-existent job and economic development prospects. But that was then. Now, Haisla Nation Chief Ellis Ross is waiting for the bust-to-boom times as restructuring of the Rio Tinto aluminum smelter continues and oil company giants such as Shell and Chevron consider liquefied natural gas developments near the village site, bringing plenty of labour and service [Read more]

Pipeline opponents promise pipeline war

VANCOUVER - Opponents of Northern Gateway said Friday that the war against the pipeline will now be waged against the federal government, which will decide the project's fate after a federal review panel recommended approval. A coalition of environmental groups gathered in Vancouver the day after the National Energy Board released its report and recommendations, to say that Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB) may have had the support of the panel, but not the public. Gerald Amos, chairman of [Read more]

A timeline of Northern Gateway milestones

A chronology of Northern Gateway milestones: May 27, 2010 — Enbridge files an application to the National Energy Board to build the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker terminal. The plan first surfaced several years earlier but was shelved as other projects took priority. By 2008, Enbridge began pursuing the proposal in earnest and preparing for the application. Aug. 10, 2010 — A joint Canadian Environmental Assessment and National Energy Board review panel holds its first panel session [Read more]

Quotes of support for Northern Gateway pipeline

Here is a look at what some political, business and environmental groups had to say after a federal review panel recommended that the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project go ahead, with conditions: "From the beginning of this project, Northern Gateway has worked with one goal in mind: to access new markets by building a safer, better pipeline." — Janet Holder, leader of the Northern Gateway Project ---"Now that we have received the report, we will thoroughly review it, consult with [Read more]

Oil rises, natural gas soars to 29-month high

The price of oil rose one per cent Thursday as stockpiles declined and there were new indications that demand is rising in the United States, the world's largest crude consumer. Meanwhile, natural gas soared nearly five per cent to close at US$4.46 per thousand cubic feet — the highest price since July of 2011 — after the government reported a huge draw in supplies, the result of cold temperatures across the U.S. in recent weeks. The Energy Department said Thursday that natural gas [Read more]