This is a big year for the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary. In the past it was held every year, but because of the demand and popularity of the event it is now annual. For its first back to back year it started something new – the Global Petroleum Show Awards. There are six categories. […]
Reputation as challenging as costs for oil sands industry
Canada’s oil sands industry faces an equal risk from its reputation as an environmental laggard as from high operating costs, industry observers said. The failure to win approval for pipelines like TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL and Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway is tied to concerns about carbon emissions with oil production, Ed Whittingham, executive director of […]
Enbridge reaches settlement on major pipeline spill
The company responsible for one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history will restore or create 300 acres of wetlands as part of a sweeping agreement to improve the Kalamazoo River watershed in southwestern Michigan. The settlement comes nearly five years after a broken pipeline released more than 800,000 gallons of oil. Enbridge […]
Comment: Compromise needed on Keystone XL
In mid November by a margin of one vote, the U.S. Senate rejected a bill to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to cross the Canada-U.S. border and bring tar sands oil in Canada to refineries in Texas. I am an environmentalist and firmly believe that this is the wrong decision. I do not believe this because […]
List of Canadian pipelines on hold
Mounting opposition from environmentalists have delayed a number of oil industry projects, here are the top four. 1) Keystone XL Keystone XL is a proposed 1,897-kilometre pipeline that would carry crude oil from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele City, Neb., where it would link up with other pipelines that run to the Gulf Coast and the […]
Comment: Oil pipelines and the drama of social license
On June 17, when the federal government announced its conditional acceptance of the Joint Review Panel’s recommendation for approval of Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline project application, it took mere moments for opponents to be up in arms. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, head of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, told the CBC, “We will […]
Comment: Oil sands love/hate relationship
Having spent seven years in my early career as an on-site executive of Great Canadian Oil Sands (now Suncor) – Canada’s pioneer developer and first successful extractor of oil from this massive all-Canadian resource – I feel compelled to comment on the increasing tendency by many to criticize this economic crown jewel. Not one Canadian […]
Can new technology ease concerns over pipeline safety?
Who could have ever imagined that North America would surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas liquids? A decade ago, that would have seemed laughable. Yet that’s exactly what has happened; and it’s not just Saudi Arabia that has been left in North America’s dust — Russia has, too. […]
Insurance may not be enough to cover potential disasters
U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) regulators are concerned most freight railroad insurance policies are barely sufficient to cover even average oil train accidents, Politico reports. In an analysis published in early August, DOT reported most large railroads are insured at about $25 million for accidents, with others insuring up to $50 million for certain hazardous cargo. […]
Enbridge looks south
Enbridge Inc. has it’s eyes set on Mexico. The company’s CEO Al Monaco said, “they’re obviously in significant need of pipeline infrastructure.” The comment comes at a time when Mexico is opening its doors in its energy sector to international investment. A move that would put an end to the governments more than seven decade […]