Enbridge Inc said on Monday it received federal permits for its Line 3 crude pipeline replacement project from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, moving closer to building the pipeline in the United States after years of delay. Line 3, which ships crude from Alberta to U.S. Midwest refiners, currently carries less oil than was designed for because of age and corrosion. Replacing the line, built in the 1960s, would allow Calgary-based Enbridge to roughly double its capacity to 760,000 barrels [Read more]
Headlines
Unified Valve Group is the new Canadian distributor of Texsteam Pumps
Calgary AB, Canada, and Houston TX, USA – Unified Valve Group Ltd. (“Unified”) and TexsteamTM Pumps (“Texsteam”) have partnered together to offer Texsteams’ full line of chemical injection pumps, including solar across Canada. With a focus on injection rate, Texsteam is available in a range of capacities and operating pressures for all industries including oil and gas, gas pipeline, industrial, water treatment, and chemical processing. Unified Valve Group has a full inventory of Texsteam pumps [Read more]
Column: Digital economy supply chains – excellent CBC (!) podcast lays bare the cold, hard, massive realities
Time to come clean about something. Like almost any other person affiliated with the hydrocarbon industry, I’ve long been frustrated with the Ottawa-centric, social-science-heavy analyses of industry provided by the CBC. The institution’s output seems geared to the sort of mentality one would not be thrilled to work with - whiny, hand-wringing, dependent, un-calloused, offended urbanites that couldn’t grow a potato or heat a building but have a fantastic understanding of the art of academic [Read more]
Suncor to assume operatorship of Syncrude by end of 2021
CALGARY, Alberta - Suncor, as 58.74% owner of the Syncrude Joint Venture, announced today that it, together with the other Syncrude joint venture owners – Imperial Oil Resources Limited, CNOOC Oil Sands Canada and Sinopec Oil Sands Partnership – have agreed in principle for Suncor to become the operator of the Syncrude project by the end of 2021. The agreement still requires formal approval from each of the owners. “This presents a significant strategic opportunity for Syncrude and the joint [Read more]
Obsidian Energy shareholders approve stock issuance in pursuit of Bonterra takeover
CALGARY - Obsidian Energy Ltd. says shareholders have voted to approve its proposal to issue up to 72.3 million shares to buy Bonterra Energy Corp. in a hostile takeover. The Calgary-based oil and gas producer says 91.4% of the shares represented at a special meeting on Monday were voted in favour of the deal announced in August, but strongly resisted since by the takeover target. Last week, shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis recommended investors support management in pursuing Bonterra [Read more]
U.S. oil industry group pledges to fight possible Biden fracking limits
If U.S. President-elect Joe Biden tries to restrict development of oil and gas drilling on federal lands, the American Petroleum Institute (API) will use "every tool at its disposal" including a lawsuit against the federal government, chief executive Mike Sommers said in an interview with Reuters on Monday. Biden has said he supports a ban on new gas and oil permits — including fracking — on federal lands. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a drilling technology that has allowed the [Read more]
Oil prices extend gains on COVID vaccine hopes
Oil prices extended their gains on Monday as traders were optimistic about a recovery in crude demand thanks to successful coronavirus vaccine trials, but price gains were contained by renewed lockdowns in several countries. Sentiment was also bolstered by hopes that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, will keep crude output in check. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 34 cents, or 0.8%, to $42.75 a [Read more]
Pipe dreams leave U.S. energy firms caught in climate trap
In remote northern Michigan a propane shortage in early 2014 caused prices to nearly double, squeezing about half of the families there who rely on fossil fuel to heat their homes. Glenda Bowler remembers her son fitting a wood stove at his restaurant as an alternative to propane, which reaches Michigan's Upper Peninsula via a 645 mile (1038 km) pipeline. "Everybody's thermostats got turned down, and you turned to supplemental, like wood or electric to help. I'm old, so I can't go cut [Read more]
Canada’s weekly rig count at 108
Canada averaged 108 active drilling rigs this week according to data from the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors. Of those rigs, 56 are drilling for oil, 49 are drilling for natural gas, 1 for potash, and 2 for other. Drilling activity by province is 70 in Alberta, 18 in Saskatchewan, 19 in British Columbia, and 1 in Manitoba. Precision Drilling holds the majority of the Canadian market share with 32 per cent, Ensign Drilling with 24 per cent, Horizon Drilling with 10 per [Read more]
Survey shows two-thirds of energy company employers cut labour costs due to COVID-19
CALGARY - A survey by energy labour market organization PetroLMI shows that more than two-thirds of the employers in Canada's oil and gas sector imposed labour cost reduction measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, including 37% who enacted permanent layoffs. The division of Energy Safety Canada surveyed 300 energy industry workers in August and September and interviewed 13 company leaders in September and August for its four-part report looking into industry reaction to [Read more]