BOE Report

MAYHEM at NB shale gas protest

REXTON, N.B. - The RCMP say dozens of people were arrested after Molotov cocktails were thrown at officers and police vehicles torched Thursday when they began enforcing an injunction to end an ongoing demonstration against shale gas exploration in eastern New Brunswick. RCMP Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh said at least five RCMP vehicles were destroyed after they were set ablaze and at least one shot was fired by someone other than a police officer at the site of the protest in Rexton. "The [Read more]

Chevron halts gas search in Romania after protests

BUCHAREST, Romania — Chevron says it has suspended searching for shale gas in northeast Romania following protests in the capital and the local area against hydraulic fracturing. The company said in a statement Thursday its priority was to “conduct these activities in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.” It said it had permits to start drilling for shale gas in the village of Pungesti. The statement came after hundreds protested Wednesday in a field where Chevron plans to launch [Read more]

TransCanada investigates natural gas pipeline leak in northern Alberta

CALGARY - The National Energy Board was investigating a leak in a TransCanada (TSX:TRP) natural gas pipeline in a remote corner of northwestern Alberta on Thursday."TransCanada has had a rupture on its NOVA gas transmission line system," said board spokeswoman Rebecca Taylor. "The pipeline is currently shut down and we have NEB inspectors currently en route to the location."Company spokesman Shawn Howard said a drop in pressure on the line, 140 kilometres west of Fort McMurray, was detected [Read more]

Financier with $26-billion plan to refine oilsands crude in Kitimat seeks loan guarantees from Ottawa

CALGARY - A newspaper owner with a $26-billion plan to refine oilsands crude on the West Coast said Wednesday he'll be seeking loan guarantees from Ottawa in support of the proposed project.David Black said he plans to approach the federal government in the spring and ask it to guarantee about one third of the total financing it needs for a new facility near Kitimat B.C.That doesn't involve Ottawa putting up the money, but a federal guarantee would enable Black's company, Kitimat Clean Ltd., to [Read more]

Pipeline debates best fought at local level, Kinder Morgan president says

CALGARY - Past efforts by Ottawa to take on pipeline opponents weren't especially helpful, as those debates are best fought at the local level, said the president of pipeline builder Kinder Morgan Canada."I was not a huge supporter of how actively the federal government was a year or two ago in promoting pipeline projects for its interests and taking on some of the opposers," Ian Anderson told an Calgary business audience on Wednesday."I think that they have a role to play in setting regulations [Read more]

Enbridge pipeline reversal plan a threat to First Nations communities: lawyer

TORONTO - An Enbridge proposal to reverse the flow of a pipeline running between southern Ontario and Montreal puts First Nations communities at risk, a National Energy Board panel heard Wednesday.Lawyer Scott Smith, representing the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, said the board has a duty to ensure the Crown adequately consults with his clients before making a decision on Enbridge's Line 9 — a consultation he said hasn't happened.Calgary-based Enbridge [Read more]

Greenpeace protesters blockade Kinder Morgan pipeline, fail to disrupt operations

BURNABY, B.C. - An attempt by Greenpeace protesters to stop the shipment of oil from Kinder Morgan's British Columbia storage facility didn't quite go as planned because there weren't any vessels scheduled to be at the facility.The protest began when two people chained themselves to the company's front gate on a fog-shrouded Wednesday morning at the suburban Vancouver plant."We have shut down the facility today," said Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema shortly after about a dozen demonstrators [Read more]

NEB hearings on Enbridge plans to reverse Line 9 begin in Toronto today

BISMARCK, N.D. - Scientists who helped calculate oil spilled from a broken BP well into the Gulf of Mexico are questioning the methodology used to estimate the amount of crude that recently leaked from a ruptured pipeline into a wheat field in northwestern North Dakota. Tesoro Corp. said it came up with its more than 20,000-barrel spill estimate using ground analysis. But oil spill experts say a more accurate assessment likely would come from calculating how much crude went into the pipeline [Read more]

REPORT: Pipeline safer than rail

CALGARY - A report by the Fraser Institute released Tuesday says pipeline is by far the safest way to transport oil when worker injury rates are compared, but it remains unclear which is the safest from an environmental standpoint.Using data from the U.S. Department of Transportation between 2005 and 2009, the study found the rates of injury requiring hospitalization in the U.S. were 30 times lower among pipeline workers than rail workers involved in shipping oil.For truck transport, the [Read more]

Alberta premier Redford, B.C.’s Clark to meet Nov. 5 to talk resource strategy

EDMONTON - British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and Alberta's Alison Redford are to meet next month in Vancouver to work on a joint plan to expand energy exports.The two premiers plan to talk on Nov. 5 after Redford delivers a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.The premiers say they have set the terms of reference for a joint group to explore energy issues.The group is to consult with First Nations, explore resource transportation options, look at how to promote resources and study ways to [Read more]