BOE Report

Alaskans to get $900 in oil wealth checks this year

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- While the economy continues to recover, the worst of the recession was very much felt by Alaskans on Wednesday who learned their annual check from the state's oil-wealth fund would be a small one. Nearly every Alaska resident will receive a check for $900, acting Revenue Commissioner Angela Rodell announced at a ceremony in downtown Anchorage. The amount of each person's dividend is based on a five-year rolling average of worldwide investment markets that were [Read more]

Keystone worth the costs of ongoing lobbying efforts: Oliver

CALGARY - Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says the potential benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline far outweigh the costs of all the lobbying being done in favour of the mega-project.Conservative politicians have made several trips to Washington, D.C., over the past five years in an effort to calm fears, shore up support and offer rebuttal to critics of the project."We have in play here a very large project that will make a difference economically to Canada and will generate [Read more]

Inquiry seeks to answer oil smells in NW Alberta

PEACE RIVER, Alta. - Landowners in Alberta's Peace River region will get a chance to tell the province's energy industry regulator what they want to see in an inquiry into a tar-like smell they say is making them sick.The Alberta Energy Regulator is to hold a meeting Oct. 7 in Peace River to set the scope for the inquiry into concerns expressed by people in the Three Creeks and Reno areas.Several companies in the region have cold heavy oil production sites which heat oil in tanks to separate it [Read more]

Climate issues, from Keystone XL to coal, at centre stage in U.S. capital

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama's sweeping climate agenda was in the spotlight on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as his two newly appointed environmental czars chided those who doubt the existence of climate change as congressional wrangling over TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline raged on."The evidence is overwhelming, the science is clear," Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told a hearing of the energy and commerce committee at the House of Representatives, where a slate of Republican [Read more]

CNOOC begins trading on the TSX

TORONTO - The Chinese state-controlled company that acquired Calgary-based Nexen in a landmark $15.1-billion takeover, CNOOC Ltd., began trading on Canada's largest stock market Wednesday.CNOOC's share-substitutes, known as American depository receipts, have the symbol CNU on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Each ADR is the equivalent of 100 common shares of CNOOC Ltd., which has its primary listing in Hong Kong."Canada became an important investment destination for CNOOC Limited following our [Read more]

Greenpeace says 2 activists held in Russian Arctic

MOSCOW — The environmentalist group Greenpeace says two of its activists have been arrested after climbing onto an oil platform in Russia’s Arctic waters. It claims warning shots were fired across the organization’s ship. A Greenpeace statement says the arrests were made Wednesday in the Pechora Sea, a section of the Barents Sea. The activists, who climbed a platform belonging to state gas company Gazprom, are being held on a Russian Coast Guard ship, according to Greenpeace. The statement [Read more]

Alaska asks ConocoPhillips to reopen LNG plant

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The state of Alaska is asking ConocoPhillips to reopen its liquefied natural gas plant on the Kenai Peninsula.Acting Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Balash in a letter to ConocoPhillips President Trond-Erik Johansen asks that the company apply for a three-year license to export LNG from the plant.ConocoPhillips announced in March that it would not seek an extension of its export license but might do so if local gas market needs were met and there was enough gas to [Read more]

Lethbridge oil drilling concerns city council

CALGARY - A junior energy company's plans to drill for oil on an undeveloped parcel of grassland in Lethbridge, Alta., is running into opposition from city hall.City council voted unanimously last fall to oppose any new oil and gas development within municipal boundaries. It reiterated that view this week when it got wind a small Calgary-based concern named Goldenkey Oil Inc. was about to begin public consultations.Council is concerned drilling could affect growth plans for the city of 90,000. [Read more]

Alison Redford dismisses dismisses celebrity oilsands critics

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Alison Redford is dismissing recent critical comments on the oilsands from singer Neil Young and actor Robert Redford.Young and Redford have denounced the oilsands as a blight on the environment and too high a price to pay for the oil it produces.The premier, speaking to reporters from China, says celebrities have made those kinds of comments before and will again.She says the comments lack credibility, given that the celebrities denounce the very resource which allows [Read more]

Study measuring methane leaks at fracking wells doesn’t see big global warming implications

WASHINGTON - A new study finds that the process of drilling and fracking for natural gas doesn't seem to spew immense amounts of the greenhouse gas methane into the air, as has been feared.This bolsters a big selling point for natural gas, that it's not as bad for global warming as coal. And it undercuts a major environmental argument against fracking, a process that breaks apart deep rock to recover more gas. The study doesn't address other fracking pollution concerns.The results, which [Read more]