BOE Report

Wall considering permanent heritage fund for future

REGINA - Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he thinks it's a good idea for the province to try to save money for the future while also paying off the debt. Wall made the comments after the release of a report calling for the creation of a permanent fund for future development using non-renewable resource revenues, such as those from oil and gas. The report by former University of Saskatchewan president Peter MacKinnon makes 10 recommendations, including putting a high priority on creating [Read more]

European shale gas experts say more environmental studies needed

WARSAW, Poland - European shale gas experts say more environmental studies are needed to address public concern about the security of extraction of the fossil fuel. Rene Peters, chairman of the EU Shale Gas Expert Group, told a conference in Warsaw on Tuesday that data gathered from extensive exploration in the United States does not apply to Europe, where geological and environmental conditions are different. The conference, on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks, concerned shale gas's [Read more]

China, India increasingly drive global energy demand as US moves to self sufficiency

China and India are increasingly driving world energy demand as the United States' production boom puts it on track to become independent of the global market, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. China is close to becoming the world's largest oil importer, while India will turn into the leading importer of coal in the next decade to lead the Asian surge, the Paris-based IEA said in its 2013 World Energy Outlook. "The dominance of Asia will be more and more visible," IEA executive [Read more]

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]