As oil prices plummeted, so did business at the Wood Buffalo Brewing Company. But instead of predicting financial woes, the owners saw an opportunity to raise community spirits while promoting Alberta’s craft beer scene. Since prices began dropping last winter, northern Alberta’s only craft brewery has altered the price of it’s flagship ale to reflect […]
Comment: A look at why Canada’s energy sector isn’t all in when it comes to research & development
It’s easy to forget that the oil sands began as a research project. Syncrude Canada was founded 50 years ago as a research consortium that included the provincial and federal governments, and it was tasked with finding a way to turn the bituminous sands around Fort McMurray into a commercially viable project. But the country’s energy sector is […]
Pipeline gets approval – with conditions attached
With Keystone XL, Northern Gateway and Energy East pipelines stalled at the gate, the Alberta Energy Regulator has given a tentative stamp of approval to the $3-billion Grand Rapids oil pipeline. Along with the “OK” comes 26 conditions. Considerably less than the more than 200 needed before the Northern Gateway can proceed. The pipeline in […]
Worker safety expected to improve in oil sands
Recent changes to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) may improve worker safety in Fort McMurray’s oil sands. The reforms, announced in June, include limiting the number of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in some workplaces, raising fees employers must pay to use the program, and heftier fines – up to $100,000 – for companies caught […]