SURREY, B.C. - A British Columbia natural gas supplier is warning its one million customers to expect reduced supplies and "challenges in times of high demand" as winter looms. FortisBC says in a statement that the Oct. 9 rupture and explosion of the Enbridge natural gas pipeline northeast of Prince George will mean a reduced supply for months. Although Enbridge says it expects to have the ruptured pipeline in service by mid-November, it also advises that the pressure in that [Read more]
Headlines
Trudeau vows to impose carbon tax despite resistance
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he would press ahead with plans to impose a carbon tax on provinces unwilling to combat climate change despite resistance in voter-rich parts of the country. Starting in April 2019 carbon pollution will initially cost $20 a tonne, rising by $10 a year until it reaches $50 in 2022. Trudeau, whose ruling Liberals face an election in October 2019, told a news conference that all the money collected would be returned directly to taxpayers in the [Read more]
Alberta’s Notley proposes Ottawa get into the crude-by-rail business
CALGARY - Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is proposing Ottawa get into the crude-by-rail business — at least temporarily — so that producers in her province can get a better price for their oil. "We are in the midst of putting together a specific business case that we'll be taking to the federal government late this week, early next week, where we lay out the specific costs," Notley said Monday following a meeting with energy industry leaders in Calgary. Notley noted that Alberta heavy oil [Read more]
Are Canadian Energy Companies being lobbied to abandon existing Technology for new Digital Innovations?
Canadian Energy Companies have invested heavily in technology over the years. Are they being lobbied to abandon existing Tech, or can we see new Technology interacting with our existing Tech? Every now and then, great new technology comes onto the scene with the potential to enhance or replace existing technology. Generally, most of the hype is on replacement and we’re then faced the question of how long we can limp along with our existing technology until we must inevitably make the leap to [Read more]
NEB agrees to consider LNG Canada pipeline jurisdictional challenge
The National Energy Board says it will consider a jurisdictional challenge of a pipeline approval that is a key component in a recently sanctioned $40-billion liquefied natural gas export facility in British Columbia. The federal regulator says it will accept submissions until next Monday from challenger Mike Sawyer, the provincial and federal governments, and other parties on whether the 670-kilometre pipeline should be considered a federal project. If it is, it will require National [Read more]
Imperial safely resumes production at Norman Wells operations
CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Imperial today announced that it has successfully restarted production at its Norman Wells operations in the Northwest Territories following the return to service of Enbridge’s Line 21 pipeline. Imperial had previously resumed limited shipments of crude oil from storage in September. More than 100 employees and contractors have been working to restart operations, with a focus on safety and protection of the environment. Production is expected to ramp up in [Read more]
Not too late for Thanksgiving: two BC incidents highlight the quality and value of the petroleum infrastructure that keeps us alive and unfrozen
Thanksgiving is a multipurpose holiday. It is a chance to see how much food can be inhaled in a single sitting, and to see how much of it can be turned to fat by watching football for the rest of the day. At some point though, it’s always nice to take a walk in the fall air, see the fall scenery (or wade through knee-deep snow if in Calgary), and mull over the things we should be grateful for. We all take a lot for granted, but this year BC provided a few crystal-clear examples of some [Read more]
An innovative fabricator is making life easy for energy companies
Soon after Jeff Berube joined Shield Industries, he noticed a common complaint among people involved in procurement. “Fabrication companies are generally not transparent and have poor track records of meeting deadlines,” he says. Located in Taber, AB, Shield Industries is a fabricator of storage tanks, prefabricated pressure piping and structural steel for over 30 years. In the oil and gas industry, properly scheduling facility construction is crucial to on time and on budget project [Read more]
LNG Canada says China’s U.S. LNG import tariff could leave projects "dead in the water"
LNG Canada challenged competing U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects on Monday, saying many could end up "dead in the water" as long as China keeps its tariff on U.S. imports of the fuel as part of the trade war between the countries.China in September announced a 10 percent tariff on U.S. LNG imports as part of an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies. This month, Royal Dutch Shell said it received a final investment decision (FID) for its $31 [Read more]
Enbridge targets mid-November to complete B.C. gas pipeline repair after blast
VICTORIA - The company that owns the natural gas pipeline that ruptured and burned earlier this month in central British Columbia says repairs should be complete by the middle of November. Enbridge says in a statement that work to fix the 91-centimetre pipeline is underway, and subject to regulatory approval, it should be back in service in November under reduced pressure. The pipeline ruptured on Oct. 9 at a rural location about 15 kilometres northeast of Prince George, causing an [Read more]