OTTAWA - Legislation overhauling Canada's assessment of major energy projects is back in the hands of Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, albeit looking a lot different than when she introduced it. The Senate passed the Impact Assessment Act late Thursday with more than 180 amendments. The changes take power away from the environment minister to intervene in or slow the assessment process, reduces the ability for legal challenges of project approvals and adds more emphasis on [Read more]
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Enbridge seeks court ruling on Great Lakes oil pipeline deal
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Enbridge Inc. is asking a Michigan court to rule on the legality of an agreement it reached with former Gov. Rick Snyder to build an oil pipeline tunnel beneath the channel linking lakes Huron and Michigan. The Canadian company said Thursday that it is asking the Michigan Court of Claims to determine the constitutional validity of the deal. The Court of Claims deals with civil actions filed against the state and its agencies. Snyder, a Republican, [Read more]
Trans Mountain stake should go to Indigenous owners on route, B.C. chief says
CALGARY - The chairman of a B.C. indigenous group seeking to buy a stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline says Ottawa should favour communities along the route when deciding who can make an ownership bid. Chief Michael LeBourdais of Whispering Pines Clinton Indian Band near Kamloops, B.C., says for that reason he supports the efforts of the Iron Coalition over rival Project Reconciliation. Iron Coalition announced Wednesday it is inviting First Nations and Metis groups from across Alberta to [Read more]
Husky restarts production at another drill centre following November oil spill
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Husky Energy has restarted production at its southern drill centre in the White Rose oil field following a major oil spill off the coast of Newfoundland last fall that halted all operations. A Wednesday statement from the company said production began after leak testing in accordance with the plan approved by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. Another drill centre at the site restarted production in January. Husky has been working to resume [Read more]
Western Canadian crude inventories decrease in May
Western Canadian crude oil inventories fell in May, energy information provider Genscape said on Wednesday, helped by an increase in crude-by-rail loadings. Total stocks were 33.6 million barrels, retreating from the record high of 37.1 million barrels set in April. The decline follows Alberta government production curtailments that were imposed on Jan. 1 to help drain a glut of crude in storage and boost Canadian crude prices. Oil companies are limited to producing 3.71 million barrels [Read more]
Crude-by-rail shipments from Western Canada rise by 34,000 bpd in May
CALGARY - Genscape says crude-by-rail shipments from Western Canada continued to rise in May after falling in February to a nine-month low. The U.S. company, which monitors western Canadian rail terminals handling about 80 per cent of typical volumes, reports average rail loadings in May were 231,000 barrels per day, up 34,000 bpd from April. In February, Genscape reported 144,000 bpd moved by rail, about half of the 281,000 bpd it recorded in January. The February slide was attributed [Read more]
Premiers Kenney, Moe to work together on rig rules as they meet in Saskatchewan
WEYBURN, Sask. - The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are pledging to harmonize regulations governing the movement of oil and gas rigs in the two provinces. Jason Kenney and Scott Moe have signed a memorandum of understanding noting that some commercial trucking rules are not suitable for service rigs, which spend most of the time in a field, not on a road. The goal is to make it easier for rigs to be moved from job site to job site in both provinces without getting bogged down by two [Read more]
Senate committee says oil tanker ban off B.C. targets Alberta, divides country
OTTAWA - A Senate committee says the Trudeau government's bill to ban oil tanker traffic off British Columbia's northern coast will divide the country, inflame separatist sentiment in Alberta and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples. Worse, the Senate's transportation and communications committee says the bill is a cynical, intentional bid to cripple the economy of Prairie provinces, particularly Alberta, and curry political favour elsewhere in the country. And the committee says it's [Read more]
Rival Indigenous bidder for the Trans Mountain pipeline cautiously welcomed
CALGARY - The British Columbia director for a First Nations consortium planning to buy a majority stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline says the emergence of a rival Alberta Indigenous bidder raises concerns about weakening his group's all-inclusive bid. But Shane Gottfriedson of Project Reconciliation says he welcomes the interest and competition from Iron Coalition, an Alberta-based organization co-chaired by Chief Tony Alexis of Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, which is to announce details [Read more]
Pulse Oil Corp. Announces Successful Bigoray Production Test, Additional Cashflow and EOR Advancements
CALGARY, June 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Pulse Oil Corp. ("Pulse" or the "Company") (TSX-V: PUL and PUL.WT) is pleased to announce an operational update on successful production results from Pulse's two new wells drilled within the Company's Bigoray assets (Pulse: 100%) located in Central Alberta. Pulse spudded two wells at its 100% controlled Bigoray site in Q1 of 2019 and is happy to report both wells were safely and successfully drilled and completed, with permanent production expected to [Read more]