BOE Report

Crude-by-rail in the spotlight in 2013

CALGARY - Crude oil moved along Canadian railway lines in unprecedented volumes in 2013 as delays in building new pipelines caused oil companies, clamouring to reach the most lucrative markets, to seek out alternative paths. The crude-by-rail trend had been gathering steam quietly in recent years. But after the disaster in Lac Megantic, Que., it could no longer fly under the radar.On July 6, an unattended train laden with 7.6 million litres of volatile crude barrelled into the town, setting off [Read more]

US: Oil output to near record; prices stay tame

NEW YORK - The Energy Department says the nation's energy picture is getting ever rosier. Production is rising, consumption is slowing, and prices are expected to remain in check.According to the Energy Department's annual outlook, domestic oil output may regain the peak it reached in 1970 over the next two years and gasoline prices will fall over the same period to just over $3 per gallon.Natural gas production and use will continue to soar, demand for gasoline will fall, and energy-related [Read more]

Industry, governments talk oilsands water release

EDMONTON - Oilsands producers are talking with the federal and Alberta governments about conditions under which water from the industry's tailings ponds could be released into the environment.Officials say releases would only involve treated water and wouldn't happen until the end of a mine's life.Environmentalists are watching the discussions closely and warn that quality standards for released tailings water should be high."If they'd be willing to take the water and dump it in the Bow River [Read more]

Judge’s delay for hearing application means Lubicon fracking protest can continue

LITTLE BUFFALO, Alta. - A anti-fracking blockade of an energy company's drilling site in northern Alberta will continue over the weekend after the protesters say a judge delayed hearing an application to get them to move. A news release from the Lubicon Lake Nation says a Calgary judge who was to hear the request by PennWest Exploration (TSX:PWT) has postponed the hearing until Monday. The protesters have been blocking an access road to PennWest's drilling site by Haig Lake since late [Read more]

U.S. billionaire, WHO MADE A FORTUNE ON OIL INVESTMENTS, explains anti-Keystone bid

WASHINGTON - Yes, the influential activist spearheading the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline has made a fortune in oil investments. Yes, he's invested in a rival pipeline that would compete with Keystone. But no, Tom Steyer says, there's nothing untoward about his motives. Steyer, the well-connected donor to successful U.S. political campaigns, says he left behind his previous life as an investment banker to dedicate himself to the fight against climate change. In a recent [Read more]

Lubicon dispute over oil access heats up

LITTLE BUFFALO, Alta. - A dispute between the Lubicon First Nation and a Calgary oil company over access to land is heating up in northern Alberta. The Lubicons, who have been blocking an access road to a PennWest Exploration (TSX:PWT) drilling site since late November, are warning four other energy companies they may face similar action.PennWest says it will ask a Calgary judge today for an injunction forcing the protesters to open the road.The Lubicon First Nation has already asked for an [Read more]

NAFTA body to feds: respond to oilsands concerns

CALGARY - A North American trade body has asked Ottawa to respond to allegations that it has failed to enforce its own laws when it comes to oilsands waste known as tailings.Two environmental groups and three individuals assert the federal government has failed to enforce provisions in the Fisheries Act by allowing harmful substances to leak from tailings ponds into the Athabasca Watershed.They made their complaint in 2010 to the Commission for Environmental Co-operation, an organization through [Read more]

TransCanada offers alternate west-east pipeline route

EDMUNDSTON, N.B. - A spokesman for TransCanada says the company is looking to address concerns raised by the mayor of Edmundston, N.B. about the route for the EnergyEast pipeline project.Edmundston Mayor Cyrille Simard had wanted assurances the route for the west-to-east pipeline would not harm his city's watershed area and wouldn't run close to residential neighbourhoods.Philippe Cannon, a spokesman for TransCanada's (TSX:TRP) project, says a new route was proposed during an open house held by [Read more]

Group reapplies to oppose oilsands project

EDMONTON - An environmental group is asking again to speak to an oilsands review panel after a court upheld its right to do so.The Alberta Oilsands Environmental Coalition is asking the province for the right to appear at a regulatory hearing into a project proposed by Southern Pacific Resource Corp. to expand an oilsands facility northwest of Fort McMurray.When the coalition first asked for that permission, it was denied.The group appealed that refusal to the courts and won — partly on [Read more]

New senior Obama adviser anti Keystone XL, refuses to even deliberate pipeline

WASHINGTON - A new senior adviser to President Barack Obama will recuse himself from deliberations on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the White House said Wednesday. John Podesta, a former chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, has spoken out against the pipeline, which would carry oil derived from tar sands in western Canada to refineries in Texas. Podesta founded the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank that opposes the pipeline. Podesta's hiring cheered environmental [Read more]