Trudeau's Political Troubles Boil as Pipeline Surprise Weighs
Canada's government got just 24 hours notice that it would be thrust into a political and economic crisis by an ultimatum from a pipeline operator, government sources said, leaving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scrambling for options in a dispute that could damage his re-election chances. The Kinder Morgan Canada pipeline issue has pitted Ottawa against the Pacific province of British Columbia and could turn into a constitutional crisis, derail Trudeau's energy strategy and dent business confidence.
Energy East Pipeline woes Worry Canada's Atlantic Coast
For years, heavy equipment operator Ashley Underhill has tried to defy the notion that one could only make a good living in Canada's poorer east coast by spending most of the time away from the family in the nation's western oil patch. One reason Underhill had battled on, working on small private contracts, including snow clearing and wood cutting, was Energy East, a planned 4,600-km (2860-mile) pipeline between Alberta's oil sands and the east coast and the promise of an economic boost it could bring.
Irving Oil to Buy Irish Refinery from Phillips 66
Irving Oil said on Wednesday it agreed to buy Ireland's only refinery from Phillips 66, a deal that will extend the Canadian company's reach across the Atlantic. The value of the deal, expected to close by the end of the third quarter, was not disclosed in a news release from Irving, which operates Canada's largest refinery in the province of New Brunswick. The deal will give the closely held Canadian company, controlled by the billionaire Irving family, full ownership of the Whitegate refinery near Cork, Ireland.
Alberta to Fly Oil via Airships, It Says on April Fools
Canada's oil-producing province of Alberta, stymied by the U.S. decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline and by other market access problems, said on Friday it will use zeppelins to bring its products to markets around the world. Alberta's left-leaning New Democrat government used April Fools' Day to solve the problem of getting bitumen, oil and natural gas from the land-locked province without going through the long consultations and reviews that have frustrated its oil industry.
MR Solutions Partners with Green Imaging
A new 3D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) solution, the ImaCore 3017, is being introduced to the oil and gas sector for high resolution rock core imaging. MR Solutions, of Guildford, UK in partnership with Green Imaging Technologies, based in New Brunswick, Canada have combined technologies to bring a complete rock core imaging solution to the sector. Traditionally, rock core analysis is an exercise in providing measured data, but…
Canada Climate Push Spells Uncertainty for Oil Sands
Canada's newly elected government is committed to being a strong ally in global efforts to curb climate change, but it is unclear yet what that will mean for its vast oil patch, Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said on Wednesday. "We are committed to moving to a low-carbon economy and we need to look at what that means," McKenna said at a briefing on the sidelines of the U.N. climate conference in Paris.
U.S. RBOB Futures Rise on Higher RINs Prices
U.S. gasoline futures rose nearly 4 percent on Tuesday morning on higher requirements for refiners to meet U.S. renewable fuel requirements, traders said. U.S. gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were up 3.5 percent at $1.35 a gallon at 10:28 a.m. EST, outpacing both the U.S. crude and the global crude benchmark. The RBOB crack spread rose to $15.18 a barrel, the highest since August of last year. The Environmental…
Brent Steady, U.S. Crude Down
Brent oil erased most of its early losses to trade steady on Thursday on support from a weak dollar and higher gasoline prices, while U.S. crude slipped on pressure from large inventory builds. Brent futures were down 6 cents at $44.08 a barrel by 12:39 p.m. EST (1739 GMT), after hitting a session low of $43.70. U.S. crude's benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 45 cents at $40.30, after snapping below the key $40-a-barrel support for a second time since Wednesday.
TransCanada to Build Only One Energy East Export Terminal
TransCanada Corp scrapped plans to build a port in Quebec and said on Thursday it will have only one export terminal for its Energy East pipeline project. The 1.1 million barrel-per-day Energy East project will carry crude from Alberta across Canada to New Brunswick. Calgary-based TransCanada had originally planned to build two ports for shipping crude overseas - one at the pipeline terminus in St John, New Brunswick, and the other in Cacouna, Quebec.
TransCanada Close to Choosing Energy East Export Terminal
Pipeline company TransCanada Corp said on Tuesday it is very close to reaching a decision on an alternate crude oil export port for the Energy East pipeline after a proposed terminal in Quebec was cancelled earlier this year. TransCanada will also have a terminal at the pipeline terminus in Saint John, New Brunswick. (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Canadian Regulator OKs Repsol LNG Export Plan
Spanish energy giant Repsol has received approval from Canadian regulators to begin exporting liquefied natural gas from its under-utilized Canaport import facility in Saint John, New Brunswick. The National Energy Board of Canada granted the company a 25-year permit to import as much as 312 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year by pipeline from the United States and western Canada, then convert it to 6 million metric tons of LNG at a new on-site facility…
GE, Statoil Announce Open Innovation Challenge Winners
GE and Statoil’s Sustainability Collaboration announced today the five winners of its inaugural Open Innovation Challenge that focused on addressing the use of sand in unconventional operations. Five Winning Technologies Address Alternatives for Sand in Shale Development: Sand plays a critical role in shale development and the hydraulic fracturing process. The proppant is mixed with water and injected into a formation to “stimulate” or “prop open” the tiny fractures, enabling oil and natural gas to flow freely.
Irving Oil Names Family Member to Senior Role
The daughter of eastern Canadian energy billionaire Arthur Irving has been hired into a senior role at the family company, Irving Oil, the company said on Thursday, in a possible hint at succession in the family business. Sarah Irving has been appointed executive vice president of the company, according to an Irving Oil statement, which also announced a new company president and chief operating officer, both family outsiders. Sarah…
Irving Oil Slams Former Top Executive Over Lawsuit
Canada's Irving Oil rejected former top executive Mike Ashar's allegation that he was underpaid millions of dollars, painting him instead as an "unsuccessful" hire who oversaw a decline in the family-owned company's worth during his five-year tenure, according to court documents filed this week. The legal battle has offered a rare glimpse inside the closely-held company, which runs Canada's largest oil refinery in the Atlantic province of New Brunswick…
TransCanada will Not Build Oil Export Terminal in Quebec
TransCanada Corp has decided not to build a proposed oil export terminal in Quebec as part of its C$12 billion ($9.5 billion) Energy East pipeline, opting to ship the crude from Alberta to another terminal in New Brunswick, the La Presse newspaper reported on Wednesday. The Calgary-based company said it would provide an update on the project this week but declined further comment on the report in La Presse, a Montreal newspaper. The pipeline will still deliver oil to existing refineries in Quebec.
Canada's New Brunswick Bans Fracking, Plans Study
Lawmakers in New Brunswick voted on Thursday to prohibit fracking in the eastern Canadian province, committing to study the controversial method of extracting oil and gas for one year before reconsidering the ban in 2016. The province's Liberal-led government said it will require five conditions be met before the moratorium is lifted. These include beefed-up environmental and health regulations, a plan for waste water disposal, consultations with aboriginal groups…
Battle Over Keystone XL Pipeline
Nebraska's Supreme Court ruled against a challenge to the Keystone XL oil pipeline's route through the state on Friday, clearing the way for the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress to try to force President Barack Obama to approve the project. The 1,179-mile (1,900-km) pipeline would send up to 830,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude from Hardisty, Alberta, across the U.S. border to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with the project's already-built Gulf Coast leg.
British Columbia Bans Transport of Oil in Pipelines Built for LNG
British Columbia has banned the transport of oil on pipelines built specifically for proposed liquefied natural gas terminals, in an effort to quell fears that those lines could eventually be converted to carry oil sands crude to coastal markets. The regulation covers six proposed pipelines, which would all carry natural gas destined for LNG export terminals planned for the Pacific Coast province. The government said the legislation could also be applied to future gas pipelines.
Teck Ships 1st Zinc From Washington Mine After Restart
Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd. said on Wednesday it has shipped its first zinc concentrate from the Pend Oreille mine in Washington state following the restart of the mine which was idled during the global economic crisis in 2009. The material will be delivered to British Colombia in Canada, a major hub for zinc production in North America. The mine is expected to produce 44,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate annually. The mine was put on care and maintenance five years ago when prices were around $1…
Quebec to Impose Conditions on TransCanada Pipeline
TransCanada Corp's plans for a C$12 billion ($10.6 billion) pipeline to ship Alberta oil to Canada's East Coast face new obstacles with the province of Quebec imposing conditions before allowing the project to proceed through its territory, according to media reports on Thursday. Quebec's demands for the project, which TransCanada calls Energy East, come just days after a failed vote in the U.S. Senate aimed at forcing presidential approval of TransCanada's controversial Keystone XL pipeline…
