It wasn't much of a bouquet — just a single lonely dandelion. But it had been plucked from the middle of a barren stretch of oilsands coarse tailings. University of Saskatchewan biologist Susan Kaminskyj knew right away that made it something special. "I was really excited," she said. "Plants that grow in extreme environments very seldom do it by themselves." It took her about two weeks to find out what was helping the dandelion survive the harsh, acidic, water-repelling [Read more]
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BC happy to export US coal but not Canadian petroleum – that’s bad for the environment and for Canada
If drunk drivers terrify you, would you let your drunken guests drive themselves home well in advance of when you go out, to avoid the danger? Or, less esoterically, if you want to fight climate change, should you work to enable a substance that produces a quarter of global greenhouse gases or one that produces a small fraction of that? It’s not a hypothetical issue, we’ve just seen it in all its misery. This past summer during British Columbia’s provincial election, a brazenly hypocritical [Read more]
Oil prices creep upward as traders test higher range: Kemp
LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Hedge fund managers continue to hold large bullish positions in crude and fuels, anticipating strong demand growth and output restraint will lift oil prices into a new, higher, trading range. Hedge funds and other money managers held a net long position equivalent to 883 million barrels in the five biggest futures and options contracts linked to petroleum on Oct. 17. The net position had been reduced by 6 million barrels compared with the previous week and 45 million [Read more]
Oil and Gas Joint Operations in Stormy Markets
The uncertainty in the energy sector has oil and gas companies engaged in joint venture projects on edge. Oil and gas producers are under tremendous economic stress. What kind of strategies can companies adopt to mitigate risk arising of possible joint operator or partner insolvency? Join the Petroleum Joint Venture Association for a discussion of ways to protect your company before, during and after the proceedings and how to effectively harvest opportunities from insolvency situations [Read more]
Pipeline Integrity: An Ounce of Innovation is Worth a Pound of Detection
The perception of many outside the industry is that what is being done to prevent pipeline leaks from occurring is not good enough. A few unfortunate high-profile incidents and the resulting media coverage have drawn negative attention and scrutiny which is taken out of context against the good work and progress being made by the industry as a whole. The reality is companies recognize the importance of having a solid integrity program, and are doing the best they can to mitigate risk using [Read more]
Ikkuma Resources Corp. Announces Closing of the Previously Announced Infrastructure Disposition
CALGARY, Oct. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Ikkuma Resources Corp. (TSXV: IKM) ("Ikkuma") is pleased to announce the closing of the previously announced disposition of 51% of its trunk-line and associated facilities ("Infrastructure Disposition") for cash consideration of $20,000,000. The Infrastructure Disposition has an effective date of September 1, 2017. As previously announced, it is expected that the proceeds of the Infrastructure Disposition will be used to purchase certain assets located in the [Read more]
Contractor killed at Suncor Energy mining site north of Fort McMurray
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. - A contract worker died Friday at Suncor Energy's Millennium oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray. Alberta labour spokesman Trent Bancarz said the man in his 30s was digging a trench when he was buried. His name was not released The man was employed by Aecon (TSX:ARE) Mining, which said it was deeply saddened and had put its work at the oilsands mine on hold. Suncor (TSX:SU) spokeswoman Sneh Setal said the worker died at the site. She [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for a third week in a row -Baker Hughes
The U.S. oil rig count fell for a third week in a row, extending a two-month drilling decline, although producers have sharply ramped up bets against a fall in oil prices, which could spur another investment surge. The oil rig count fell seven to 736 in the week to Oct. 20, the lowest level since June, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. The rig count, an early indicator of future output, is still much higher than a year [Read more]
Canada Weekly Rig Count Down 10 to 202
Western Canada’s fleet of drilling rigs declined by 10 to the current 202 actively drilling rigs according to data collected by Baker Hughes for the week of October 20th. From one week ago, Alberta rig counts decreased from 144 to 141, the Saskatchewan rig count decreased by 10 from 40 to 30. Oil drilling declined by 5 to 107; gas rigs went down 5 from 100 to 95. View a full breakdown of western Canada’s rig activity. [Read more]
U.S. natural gas prices under pressure even as stocks tighten
LONDON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas stocks continue to tighten, but most traders appear unconcerned, with futures prices for gas delivered this winter close to the lowest levels since the start of the year. Working gas stocks in underground storage were 35 billion cubic feet (bcf) below the five-year average at 3,646 bcf on Oct. 13, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Working stocks have tightened significantly since the middle of March, when they stood [Read more]