BOE Report

B.C. government announces study on impact of LNG emissions

KITIMAT, B.C. - The B.C. government says it will fund a $650,000-study to look at the environmental and health impacts of liquefied natural gas emissions in the northwestern city of Kitimat, where three LNG terminals have been proposed.A government news release says the study will assess sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions from an existing aluminium smelter, the proposed LNG terminals, a proposed oil refinery, a crude-oil export facility, and gas-turbine-powered electrical generation [Read more]

Williams project to turn oilsands off gas into plastic feedstock near completion

CALGARY - A project to turn oilsands off-gas into a feedstock for plastic producers is almost ready for startup.The president of Williams Energy Canada says mechanical work on the project — which involves expansions to its facilities in Fort McMurray and Redwater, Alta., — is virtually done.David Chappell says in the next week and a half or so, Williams should be able to remove ethane from the mixture of gases that are a byproduct of the oilsands upgrading process.Ordinarily that gas would be [Read more]

NDP’s Mulcair slams Alberta government for seeking to silence oilsands critics

EDMONTON - Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair says a judge's finding that Alberta's Environment Department is trying to silence some environmental advocates speaks volumes about Premier Alison Redford's government.Mulcair says Court of Queen's Bench Justice Richard Marceau's ruling reinforces the public's perception that the dice have been loaded in favour of developers.Marceau quashed a decision by an Environment Department official who refused to allow the Oil Sands Environmental Coalition [Read more]

Lone Pine sues Quebec to lift fracking ban

OTTAWA - Free trade critics say a damage suit being pursued as a result of Quebec's moratorium on fracking is proof Canada needs to be careful in negotiating trade pacts around the world. The Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club and Quebec-based Eau secours say the suit by Lone Pine Resources Inc. proves that trade deals that include investor protection clauses are a bad idea because they can prevent governments from passing laws to protect the environment. Lone Pine president Tim Granger [Read more]

Application for Energy East Pipeline delayed until sometime in 2014

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - TransCanada has delayed its goal of filing an application for its proposed Energy East Pipeline with the National Energy Board until next year, the company's vice-president of eastern business development said Thursday.Steve Pohlod told an energy conference in Saint John, N.B., that there is too much work to do to be able to meet its initial goal of filing the application for the $12-billion project before the end of this year."There is still work we have to do out in the [Read more]

Slow year for drilling, rig use

RED DEER, Alta. - This year has been as flat as the Prairies for the energy drilling industry in Western Canada.Mark Scholz, president of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors, says rig utilization has been about 41 per cent so far this year.He says that figure is expected to rise slightly to 45 per cent for the rest of 2013.Scholz says wet weather and soft money markets are behind the modest numbers.He predicts activity in the oil and natural gas drilling industry will [Read more]

India wants more Canadian oil and gas

OTTAWA - With the ink barely dry on his country's long sought nuclear co-operation agreement, India's top diplomat says his county is setting its sights on increasing the flow of oil and gas imports from Canada.Indian High Commissioner Nirmal Verma also said that his country would like to see the completion of a pipeline to Canada's east coast that would carry Alberta crude to Atlantic Ocean ports.Verma told The Canadian Press that India would consider investing in the proposed Energy East [Read more]

TransCanada says construction on Gulf Coast pipeline to finish this month

CALGARY - TransCanada Corp. says a pipeline to ship crude oil from Cushing, Okla., to the U.S. Gulf Coast is 95 per cent complete.The Calgary-based company says major construction on the $2.3-billion pipeline is expected to wrap up by the end of October.More work will need to be done before it can begin filling the pipeline with crudel, but the company hopes to see the project becoming operational by the end of this year, as planned.The prospect of 700,000 barrels per day soon moving from [Read more]

Shale gas protesters block road, confront police in New Brunswick

REXTON, N.B. - There were some tense moments today as a protest against shale gas exploration in New Brunswick entered its fourth day.About 70 people confronted police and demanded that a trailer be allowed to pass through a blockade set up by police near Rexton.The protesters, who have been demonstrating outside a compound where SWN Resources has stored exploration equipment, said they wanted the trailer as a first aid station.After about an hour, police allowed the trailer to pass, once the [Read more]

Judge quashes Alberta govt decision to bar environmentalists from oilsands hearing

EDMONTON - A judge has quashed Alberta's decision to not allow environmental groups to take part in hearings on a proposed oilsands project.The Oilsands Environmental Coalition went to court last month to challenge Alberta Environment's ruling involving an oilsands mine proposed by Southern Pacific Resource Corp.The province said coalition members were not directly affected by the company's plan to build the project on the banks of the MacKay River in northeastern Alberta.A government briefing [Read more]