While oil prices have dropped below $50 per barrel, expanding market access continues to be a long-term need for Canadian oil and gas producers. Despite lower revenues — the current estimated cost of a barrel of oil in Canada is around $35 — oil product is still expected to grow in 2015. “Canada has the […]
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 […]
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. […]
Comment: Northern Gateway exposes Canada’s fractures
In late June, the federal government announced Enbridge’s $7.9-billion Northern Gateway Pipeline can proceed if it meets the National Energy Board’s 209 conditions. That’s indicative of a multiplicity of concerns around a project that includes a 1,200-kilometre pipeline that would traverse some of the most wild and spectacular terrain in Canada, and the shipping of […]
Kinder Morgan accused of not being forthright
The city of Vancouver, province of B.C. and others are saying the company that wants to build the Trans Mountain pipeline is avoiding a number of questions during the regulatory review. Kinder Morgan was given a long list with about 4-hundred questions on it. When the oil company responded to only 250, well that didn’t […]
Comment: Northern Gateway pipeline-risk versus reward
(excerpt from Gwyn Morgan commentary) The proposed Northern Gateway project has become a flashpoint for the growing debate about the safety of oil pipelines. Yet despite the arguments put forward by its proponents and opponents, many Canadians lack a broader perspective from which to measure the risks and rewards of what would be a vital […]
Another pipeline – this one flows into Edmonton
The Northern Gateway pipeline has received a lot of attention since it was announced. Did you know there is another in the works that is twice the size? TransCanada the company behind the Keystone XL proposal wants another pipeline going from Northern Alberta to Edmonton. Like the other higher profile projects – the Grand Rapids […]