Canadian News
The latest news from and about Canadian issues.Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Energy battles boiling over.
Calgary Herald, June 17, 2008 - “A Wall Street analyst attending Calgary’s prominent energy investment forum found himself in the eye of a growing environmental storm battering Alberta’s oilsands—one of several clashes centred on the energy sector Monday. About 50 people gathered outside the Hyatt Regency to protest the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers investment conference, an annual event that draws hundreds of oil executives and well-heeled corporate clientele from around the globe.” Read more.
Study calls for moratorium on oilsands upgraders.
CTV, June 16, 2008 - “Alberta should not approve more oilsands upgraders near Edmonton until the province has a solid plan to limit the huge volume of fresh water they will use and to better manage the pollution they will produce, a new study says. The Pembina Institute’s Oilsands Fever report released on Monday says nine bitumen upgraders are expected to begin operating just northeast of the capital between 2015 and 2020. Together they will consume 10 times as much water as the City of Edmonton each year and spew 45 megatonnes of greenhouses gases—the same amount that 10-million vehicles produce, the report says.” Read more.
Alberta to rebut oil sands’ environmental foes.
Oil & Gas Journal, June 13, 2008 - “In response to environmental organizations’ opposition to oil sands development, Alberta plans to emphasize the strategic and economic benefits of continuing production, said an official of the Canadian province’s government June 11. ‘Alberta’s success in developing its estimated 1.7 trillion bbl of oil sands has vaulted it onto the world stage because it is the only non-OPEC government capable of dramatically increasing its production,’ said Gary Mar, the province’s minister-counselor at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. It also has become the target of groups intent on restricting development as a way to stop the growth of fossil fuels, he told participants at a conference on Canada’s potential for reducing US reliance on imports from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members. Read more.
Friday, June 13, 2008
World Energy Leaders Launch Energy-efficiency Initiative.
Renewable Energy World, June 13, 2008 - “On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman concluded his weekend visit to Aomori, Japan where the energy ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized countries (G8) and from China, India and South Korea met to discuss ways to enhance global energy security while simultaneously combating global climate change. The G8 includes Canada, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.” Read more.
High oil: NAFTA’s trump card.
Financial Post, June 12, 2008 - “The global economy is now tripolar and growth is driven by three roughly equal major economic engines: North America, Europe and Asia. However, high commodity prices threaten to slow Asia and Europe’s economies. North America is a different matter and a NAFTA energy policy could benefit all.” Read more.
U.S. shows more interest in Canadian oilsands.
Financial Post, June 3, 2008 - “Americans may show little appreciation or awareness at times of Canada as their top energy supplier, but in this senior global oil industry centre, Canada is hot. It’s a big change in sentiment from a few years ago, when U.S. companies would rather cozy up to Russia or the Middle East than tough it out in the frozen north.” Read more.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Canadian oil sure to be American election issue.
National Post, June 6, 2008 - “Canadian oil is set to take a greater role in the American election now that the United States’ presidential candidates have been determined, say observers on both sides of the border. Environmentalists are pinning their hopes on a change in the U.S. government—and especially the ascension of Democratic nominee Barack Obama—to stem what they see as a rising tide of ‘dirty oil’ from Alberta, a coalition of Canadian and American environment groups said. But Canadian officials said it doesn’t really matter who wins the election; Alberta oil will continue to remain an important source of supply south of the border.” Read more.
Report decries oil sands waste.
Houston Chronicle, June 5, 2008 - “Refinery expansions in the U.S. focused on processing crude from Canadian oil sands show an entrenched reliance on fossil fuels even as concerns grow about the effects of oil sands production, an environmental group said Wednesday. Such multibillion-dollar investments illustrate a long-term shift in refining toward so-called heavy oil, which requires more energy-intensive production and prompts worries about emissions and waste runoff, the report’s authors said.” Read more.
Canadian energy giants rush deep into Texas.
Financial Post, June 5, 2008 - “In East Texas and in the Barnett Shale surrounding Fort Worth, Calgary-based EnCana Corp. is drilling up a storm, sometimes 300 feet away from people’s backyards, and it’s largely welcome. In the deep waters of the U. S. Gulf of Mexico, Nexen Inc., another senior Canadian oil-and-gas company, has made important finds, and is a sought-after partner by some of the world’s biggest offshore oil producers.” Read more.
Oil, What, Where & When in North America Over the Next 3 Years.
Canada Free Press, June 8, 2008 - “Many countries have very heavy crude oil and it can only be used to refine certain products. Saudi crude cannot be used for gasoline production because of this. Mexico and Venezuela also have almost all of their oil as heavy crude. It can be used to produce heavy bunker oil used in ships and asphalt production ...” Read more.
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