HAMILTON - At least six people ended up in handcuffs following a disturbance in a Hamilton courthouse as 13 people charged after a blockade in June were to appear on trespassing charges.Spectators were warned by the judge for clapping and making noise in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon and the disturbance erupted after the judge asked a woman was asked to leave.There were several physical altercations involving police at the exit to the courtroom that resulted in several people being [Read more]
Anti Keystone XL billionaire challenges pipeline boss to live debate
CALGARY - A San Francisco billionaire has challenged TransCanada boss Russ Girling to a live debate on the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.Tom Steyer, an ardent critic of the project and a major Democratic financier, extended his invitation in an open letter to Girling on Tuesday."I care so much that the truth comes out that I hereby challenge you to a debate on the merits and faults of the Keystone XL pipeline," Steyer wrote."Let's have a real, substantial conversation about [Read more]
Danielle Smith criticises Obama in Washington editorial
Alberta's Opposition leader has taken aim at U.S. President Barack Obama in an opinion piece in a Washington newspaper. Danielle Smith, leader of the Wildrose party, says in the Washington Times that Obama's recent claims about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline have no basis in economic reality. Obama recently told the New York Times that the proposed pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast would create few lasting jobs. Smith's editorial says Obama compares poorly with [Read more]
China poised to become the world’s largest net oil importer later this year
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Short-Term Energy Outlook, August 2013. Note: Net oil imports are defined as total liquid fuels consumption less domestic production. EIA's August 2013 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts that China's net oil imports will exceed those of the United States by October 2013 on a monthly basis and by 2014 on an annual basis, making China the largest importer of oil in the world. The imminent emergence of China as the world's largest [Read more]
No More Spills? New Technology Could Transform the Pipeline Sector
The 2010 Kalamazoo spill and the 2013 Exxon leak in Arkansas are the most glaring incidents, but these are just the big leaks that are found right away and reported. Most leaks are found eventually—but there is money to be saved and damage to be avoided by catching them at the smallest rupture. Right now, we rely on pigs in the pipeline to do this. It's called "pigging". Pigs are inspection gauges that can perform various maintenance operations on a pipeline—from inspection to [Read more]
West-east pipeline benefits Canada: Harper
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - The proposed Energy East Pipeline isn't solely to transport Alberta's crude to world markets, but also to finally provide the East Coast with a large, secure supply of domestic oil, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.Harper was visiting the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, where he said the TransCanada (TSX:TRP) pipeline would benefit consumers in Atlantic Canada, a region that depends on foreign sources of oil."We're not just expanding our markets for our [Read more]
Oil helps keep Saskatchewan budget in black as potash and other revenues fall
REGINA - Falling revenue from potash, taxes and Crown land sales is hitting Saskatchewan's bottom line, but more oil money is keeping the books in the black so far.The Saskatchewan government said in its first-quarter budget update that stronger oil prices are expected to increase revenue by $92 million. But revenue from Crown land sales is forecast to drop $45.6 million, potash revenue is expected to be down $21.3 million and tax revenue looks to fall by $15 million from March budget [Read more]
Analyst: LNG-powered vehicles in China to rise tenfold by 2020
SINGAPORE (AP) — The number of vehicles fueled by liquefied natural gas in China will rise tenfold to 800,000 by 2020, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. The need for LNG to power the vehicles will increase to 18 billion cubic meters, from 1.8 billion last year, Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Bernstein, said in a report Monday. “While there are some minor government policies to encourage conversion to use LNG, we feel that one important incentive is interest-free loans [Read more]
Maine firm in Quebec tragedy files for bankruptcy
BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- A railroad company whose runaway oil train caused a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in a small town in Canada filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday. The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. and Canadian courts, citing debts to more than 200 creditors following the July disaster in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Company Chairman Ed Burkhardt had said previously that a bankruptcy filing was likely following [Read more]
Governments, industry team up on pipeline research
EDMONTON - At least three governments and two energy industry groups are leading what they hope will be a "pan-Canadian" approach to find ways to improve the country's pipelines.As three controversial megaprojects generate headlines across the country, the Canadian Pipeline Technology Collaborative is to look for ways to make the system safer and more efficient, said industry spokeswoman Brenda Kenny."The program objective is, number one, technology development," said Kenny, who is [Read more]