Shell Canada has fitted the final module at the first carbon capture and storage project in Alberta’s oil sands, putting start-up on track for 2015. The Quest CCS project, now 70 percent complete, is being built with funding from the Alberta and Canadian federal government to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands. […]
Comment: We need to refine our oil sands ambition
In June, a ship carrying about 600,000 barrels of crude from Alberta’s oil sands arrived in Bilbao, Spain, by way of Houston, Tex. The circuitous journey by rail and tanker to Spanish oil giant Repsol’s Bilbao refinery made economic sense, given the price discount on Canadian crude. Despite European hostility toward “dirty” oil from Canada, […]
First Nations companies competitive in battle for oil sands jobs
When it comes to landing contracts in Alberta’s oil sands, First Nations groups are no longer the beneficiaries of easy deals. Chief financial officer of Fort McKay Group of Companies, Marguerite MacDonald says, “Four years ago, we didn’t have to bid on a lot of the work that we now bid for. It is no […]
Comment: Oil sands too valuable a resource to ignore
There is a lot of environmental hand-wringing going on these days. In Washington, President Barack Obama is playing political brinkmanship with Canada over the approval to the Keystone XL pipeline project. In British Columbia, there is mounting opposition to the Northern Gateway project. In Kitchener, concerns over the endangered Jefferson salamander have delayed the much-needed […]