BOE Report

Stats show Americans not that into driving anymore

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Driving in America has stalled, leading researchers to ask: Is the national love affair with the automobile over? After rising for decades, total vehicle use in the U.S. - the collective miles people drive - peaked in August 2007. It then dropped sharply during the Great Recession and has largely plateaued since, even though the economy is recovering and the population growing. Just this week the Federal Highway Administration reported vehicle miles traveled during the [Read more]

Nova Scotia launches fracking review

  HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government is pulling the plug on an internal review it launched two years ago into hydraulic fracturing in favour of what it says is a more comprehensive and independent study of the controversial practice.The review will be led by David Wheeler, the president of Cape Breton University and an expert on water quality and groundwater pollution.Energy Minister Charlie Parker said Wheeler will hold public consultations and assemble an advisory panel of experts to [Read more]

Sonde Resources Corp. Announces Senior Management Changes

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Aug. 28, 2013) - Sonde Resources Corp. ("Sonde") (TSX:SOQ)(NYSE MKT:SOQ) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved the following changes to its Senior Management structure. Effective September 1, 2013, Rene P. Beaumier has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Sonde. Rene is a Chartered Accountant and has over twenty five years of accounting and international petroleum experience. Since 2010, Rene has been a consultant, including acting as [Read more]

Dutch demand Russians explain threats against Greenpeace ship

  Dutch officials are demanding that Russia explain why it threatened to fire on a Greenpeace icebreaker crew protesting offshore energy exploration in the Arctic waters of the Kara sea."This morning (Tuesday) we registered our protest against this manner of proceeding and the threat of the use of force," said a statement from the Dutch foreign ministry in a translation provided by Greenpeace.On Monday, the crew of the Dutch-flagged icebreaker Arctic Sunrise chose to leave the vicinity [Read more]

MARKETING MACHINE: Redford heads to China to meet with leaders, drum up business

  EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Alison Redford will lead a delegation to China next month to drum up business in the Pacific Rim.Redford will be accompanied by members of 15 small businesses, three regional economic development associations and the presidents of the universities of Alberta and Calgary.The 13-day trip has planned stops in Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dailan.Teresa Woo-Paw, associate minister for international relations, is going as well to meet officials and [Read more]

Oil surges past $112, then eases back as tensions escalate over Syria

BANGKOK (AP) -- The price of oil ricocheted Wednesday as the U.S. edged closer to intervening in Syria's civil war, surging past $112 a barrel before giving up most of those gains. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday that American forces were ready to act on any order by President Barack Obama to strike Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict. U.S. Warships Set for Cruise Missile Strikes on Syria http://t.co/fsV6lfiIIt via @sharethis [Read more]

Statoil strikes oil in Newfoundland offshore, 500 km northeast of St. John’s

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Statoil has discovered crude oil in the Flemish Pass Basin in the North Atlantic, marking the third time it has made such a find in Newfoundland's offshore.The Norwegian energy company says it made the discovery while drilling in depths of about 1,100 metres of water in an area known as the Bay du Nord prospect, about 500 kilometres northeast of St. John's.In June, Statoil announced it detected oil at the Harpoon prospect, which is about 10 kilometres away from Bay du Nord.The [Read more]

Oil shoots above $108 as US defense secretary says forces prepared to strike Syria

(AP) - The price of oil jumped more than US$2 on Tuesday, to above $108 a barrel, after the U.S. defence secretary said American forces were ready to act on any order by President Barack Obama to strike Syria. Warships move closer to Syria as Obama considers military options over 'chemical weapons use' http://t.co/KtsaNx9EQt pic.twitter.com/1ci2mtuhLM— New York Post (@nypost) August 24, 2013 By early afternoon in Europe, U.S. benchmark crude for October delivery was up $2.12 to [Read more]

More than five million hours of work lost due to Alberta flood

  OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says the extensive flooding that hit Alberta in June produced a net loss of 5.1 million hours of work.The agency says 300,000 employed Albertans, or 13.5 per cent of the total working population, lost 7.5 million hours of work during the floods.At the same time, 134,000 people, or 6.0 per cent of workers, put in 2.4 million additional hours.There was a net loss in hours worked in all industries, except utilities and public administration.More than a quarter [Read more]

Greenpeace says it has left Russian waters under threat of gunfire

  A Greenpeace icebreaker in the Russian Arctic without permission to protest offshore energy exploration says it is leaving after being threatened with gunfire.Crew on board the Arctic Sunrise say the ship is steaming out of the Kara Sea after being boarded and searched by the Russian coast guard.Crew member Christy Ferguson says four unarmed coast guard officers boarded the ship early this morning after the Arctic Sunrise deployed several small boats to protest the activities of a [Read more]