BISMARCK, N.D. - Oil drillers targeting the rich Bakken shale formation in western North Dakota and eastern Montana have produced 1 billion barrels of crude, data from the two states show. Drillers first targeted the Bakken in Montana in 2000 and moved into North Dakota about five years later using advanced horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to recover oil trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface. North Dakota has generated 852 million [Read more]
Headlines
Oil above US$101 a barrel; investors weigh Russia sanctions, rising supplies
NEW YORK - The price of oil crept above US$101 a barrel Tuesday as investors assessed the latest sanctions on Russia over the country's role in the crisis in Ukraine.Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery gained 44 cents to close at US$101.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, an international benchmark used to price oil used by many U.S. refineries, rose 86 cents to US$108.98 in London.Investors were contemplating the impact of new sanctions by the [Read more]
B.C. chief says would-be Alberta premier Jim Prentice understands oil opposition
OTTAWA - Former federal environment minister Jim Prentice hasn't even formally announced his intention to seek Alberta's premiership yet but he's already attracted a backhanded endorsement from a tough oil and gas opponent next door. Stewart Phillip, the grand chief of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, says he's been eye-to-eye with Prentice in negotiations before and respects the former land claims negotiator's ability to hear his opponents' point of view. For Phillip, those [Read more]
Supporters of Keystone XL pipeline seek a quick Senate vote to approve the project
WASHINGTON - Supporters of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline are seeking a swift election-year Senate vote on legislation to approve the project that environmentalists oppose strongly and the Obama administration has delayed indefinitely. Pipeline advocates in the Senate, including several Democrats on the ballot next fall, hold a clear majority. They also may command more than the 60 votes needed to overcome blocking tactics by opponents, but appear to be short of the two-thirds majority [Read more]
GasFrac to replace its entire board of directors
GasFrac Energy Services announced today it reached a deal with 5.4% owner, Nanes Balkany Partners, to replace its entire board of directors with a slate put forward from the New-York based activist investment fund. According to a Calgary Herald article, the move has garnered praise from environmentalists, but no love from shareholders. Read the press release courtesy GasFrac below: CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – April 29, 2014) - GASFRAC Energy Services Inc. (“GASFRAC” or the [Read more]
US sanctions on Russian oil chief raise concerns for foreign companies, investors
LONDON - U.S. sanctions on the president of Russia's largest oil producer, Rosneft, have intensified concerns for foreign investors in the country, particularly BP, which has a 20 per cent stake in the company and whose CEO — an American — sits on its board. Though BP says it remains committed to Rosneft, analysts say the worry is growing that the sanctions by the U.S. were merely the prelude to a tougher one against the company as a whole. That could push BP to reconsider its investment and [Read more]
Canadian Spirit Resources Inc. Announces 2013 Financial Results and Filing of Annual Disclosure Documents
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - April 29, 2014) - Canadian Spirit Resources Inc. ("CSRI" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:SPI)(OTCBB:CSPUF) announces the release of its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013 and the filing of its 2013 annual audited Financial Statements, Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") and Forms 51-101F1, F2 and F3. This news release summarizes information contained in the audited Financial Statements and MD&A for the year ended December [Read more]
Western economic growth pulls away further from rest of Canada’s: StatsCan
OTTAWA - A regional breakdown of economic performance suggests Canada's two economies drifted even further apart in 2013.Statistics Canada says in a new report that economic output improvement last year was heavily slanted toward resource-rich regions.The gap between the West and the rest was even more pronounced, said Bank of Montreal economist Robert Kavcic, widening to almost two full percentage points.Saskatchewan, which also benefited from a bump in the agriculture sector, posted a 4.8 per [Read more]
Suncor: Decision on Montreal coker coming late this year or early next
CALGARY - A project that would enable Suncor Energy Inc.'s Montreal refinery to process thick, tarry oilsands bitumen from Alberta could get the green light later this year or early in 2015, CEO Steve Williams said Tuesday. The Montreal coker project is just one way Suncor is looking to cut crude costs at the refinery, which has long relied on pricey overseas imports. "I expect to have on my desk by the end of this year the proposal for the coker project, so we'll be in a much clearer [Read more]
Progress Energy Canada and Pacific NorthWest LNG welcome fourth buyer to British Columbia LNG export project
Momentum for Canadian-led LNG export sector continues to build CALGARY, April 29, 2014 /CNW/ - Progress Energy Canada Ltd. (Progress Energy), Pacific NorthWest LNG Ltd. (PNW LNG) and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) have signed transaction agreements whereby China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC), through its affiliates, will acquire a 15 percent interest in Progress Energy's LNG-destined natural gas reserves in northeast British Columbia and in the proposed PNW LNG export facility on [Read more]