With less than half a percent of revenues spent on R&D, the oil and gas industry has one of the lowest levels of R&D intensity of any sector. Nevertheless, with the shift in focus towards unlocking the vast reserves in unconventional formations — which we define broadly to include tight oil and gas, oil sands […]
What is the federal government doing to protect the environment?
The federal government failed to spend $321-million Parliament approved for “environmentally responsible” programs last year—nearly one-third of the money that was available for that purpose. Meanwhile department spent $438,319,980 on programs that primarily support the oil and gas industry through research and marketing development, with support also for mining and forestry. The total was $41,618,530 […]
Oil & gas exploration expert John Fontana on what companies should do to monitor fracking issues better
John Fontana of Vista GeoScience talks with Rob Hislop about fracking issues, well water and best practices for being responsible while drilling.
Quest to sequester, a Shell Canada first
To paraphrase a famous observation, “Everybody talks about climate change, but nobody does much about it.” Indeed, media reports and scientific publications may be thick with discussion of this extraordinary environmental phenomenon but practical proposals for directly dealing with it are thin on the ground while full-scale initiatives are even more scarce. It is worth […]
Comment: Oil sands phase-out may be Canada’s greatest contribution to the world
The occasion of writing this column prompted reflection on my engineering career, in particular three critical junctures. The first was in 1970, when my teacher pointed to Northern Alberta on a map at the front of our classroom, declaring that the oil embedded in the soil there would be Canada’s most important contribution to the […]
Comment: Start asking the right questions
I am writing about the company Quicksilver making an application to the Canadian National Energy Board to export 20 million tones a year of liquefied natural gas from its Campbell River site. Our Mayor Walter Jakeway advises us to “watch, wait and wave the Campbell River flag” – mirroring what he said over a year ago: that […]
Learning how to save oiled birds
Oil spills at sea can be devastating for seabirds, but a team of freshly trained Illawarra Australia wildlife rescuers are ready to help save and clean our feathered friends. The country’s first modified shipping container to clean oiled sea birds was in Port Kembla to help train volunteers. The shipping container is one of only […]
Comment: Canadian crude is an attractive alternative to imported oil
Canada has the third-largest oil reserves in the world, but we import large volumes of oil from foreign sources into Eastern Canada, including Quebec, every day. Oil refineries in Quebec and Atlantic Canada import more than 600,000 barrels per day from foreign sources. But with Canadian oil production growing, using Canadian crude oil in Quebec, […]
Damage worse than thought
Some regions in the Gulf of Mexico affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are still feeling it’s affects. It was four years ago when BP’s well ignited and pumped oil into the Gulf of Mexico for three months. Six months after the spill, a survey showed severe damage was done to coral up to […]
Comment: A renewed appeal for Keystone
What’s going on with oil and energy these days? Last week, SNL Financial noted that, “Canada’s crude oil producers are looking to markets other than the U.S. to sell increased output amid delays in pipeline expansions, according to the president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “In terms of growth potential, Keystone is obviously […]