EDMONTON - Alberta's energy minister is defending her new chief of staff despite his recent work for an anti-pipeline lobby group.Marg McCuaig-Boyd said Graham Mitchell worked briefly earlier this year for Vancouver-based LeadNow but strictly in an administrative capacity.She said Mitchell, while listed as executive director and registered lobbyist for LeadNow, did not do any lobbying and is in lockstep with the Alberta NDP's policy to grow and improve market access for oil."He was just doing [Read more]
News
Pembina Pipeline Corporation Announces $600 Million Public Note Offering
CALGARY, June 11, 2015 /CNW/ - Pembina Pipeline Corporation ("Pembina" or the "Company") (TSX: PPL, NYSE: PBA) announced today that it has agreed to offer $600 million of senior unsecured medium-term notes (the "Offering"). The Offering will be conducted in two tranches consisting of $500 million in senior unsecured medium-term notes, series 6 (the "Series 6 Notes") having a fixed coupon of 4.24 percent per annum, paid semi-annually, and maturing on June 15, 2027, and $100 million principal [Read more]
Big Oil’s push for a carbon tax a pragmatic move, not just PR, experts say
CALGARY - It may seem odd to hear Big Oil tout a policy that would make it costlier to do business.But experts say recent calls for a carbon tax have pragmatic — not just public relations — motivations.Michal Moore, an energy economist at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said savvy companies see a higher price of carbon as "inevitable" and want to influence how those policies take shape.That's why the likes of Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) boss Steve Williams have been publicly [Read more]
Risks to Canada’s financial stability inched higher amid oil slump: central bank
OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada governor tried to offer calming words Thursday about the disappointing retreat of the country's economy over the first three months of 2015, saying the performance was only a little worse than its projection.But it remains to be seen how that unexpected contraction might influence Stephen Poloz's forecasts for the rest of the year.Poloz made his first public remarks since a recent data release showed Canada's economy shrank in the first quarter at an annualized rate [Read more]
Foster Creek returns to normal operations after forest fire
CALGARY, June 11, 2015 /CNW/ - Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX: CVE) (NYSE: CVE) has returned to normal operations at its Foster Creek oil sands project in northern Alberta after a forest fire on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR) led to the precautionary shutdown of the operation on May 23 for 11 full days. "I'd like to commend everyone at Cenovus and externally who responded to the forest fire and helped keep our people and facilities safe," said John Brannan, Cenovus Executive Vice-President & [Read more]
Pilot project to transform oil industry waste water into geothermal energy
CALGARY - In a few weeks a generator in North Dakota will fire up, powered by nothing more than waste water from an oil well.The pilot project is designed to show that it's possible to generate geothermal electricity from the boiling water that comes out of the wells.The concept is something Alison Thompson, managing director of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, has long been calling for in Canada's oilpatch."We've been advocating for many years to do what we'll call the hot [Read more]
Trinidad Drilling Ltd. and CanElson Drilling Inc. Announce Strategic Business Combination
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - June 11, 2015) - Trinidad Drilling Ltd. ("Trinidad") (TSX:TDG) and CanElson Drilling Inc. ("CanElson") (TSX:CDI) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") to combine both Trinidad and CanElson's premier contract drilling fleets pursuant to a court approved plan of arrangement (the "Transaction") to create a stronger, more diverse North American drilling company with growth [Read more]
Government of Canada Accepts Recommendation to Approve Natural Gas Pipeline Proposal
OTTAWA, June 10, 2015 /CNW/ - The Honourable Greg Rickford, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, today announced the Government of Canada's decision to accept the National Energy Board's (NEB) recommendation to approve the North Montney Mainline Pipeline project, subject to 45 conditions. The North Montney Mainline Pipeline proposal was submitted by NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) to the NEB for review in 2013. The $1.7-billion project will transport natural gas from northeastern British [Read more]
100 Canadian, U.S. academics call for oilsands moratorium
A group of 100 leading Canadian and U.S. scientists has issued an urgent call for a moratorium on new oilsands development and listed 10 reasons why no more projects should be permitted."I believe we have a duty to speak up," said Mark Jaccard, an energy economist at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University who spent more than a year drafting a letter to make sure it was scientifically sound.Jaccard was a co-author of a 2014 essay in a scientific journal that made a similar argument. But the current [Read more]
Saskatchewan courts oil and gas investment amid Alberta royalty ruckus
CALGARY - If energy companies are skittish about investing in Alberta, they're welcome to set up shop next door, Saskatchewan's economy minister said Wednesday.Bill Boyd said he's been watching the political debate in neighbouring Alberta over the newly elected NDP government's plans to review oil and gas royalties.Boyd said he's been hearing "a fair bit of concern" from companies at the Global Petroleum Show, a massive exhibition in Calgary this week with some 50,000 attendees from around the [Read more]