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 […]
Promoters of proposed Sarnia refinery launching study
Backers of a push to see a new $10-billion refinery built in Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario to upgrade oil sands bitumen gathered in late August to launch a pre-feasibility study. Clem Bowman, a former head of Imperial Oil’s research department in Sarnia who went on to play an important role in developing Alberta’s oil sands, returned to […]
Shell says Canada oil sands projects may not meet waste targets
The head of Royal Dutch Shell’s Canadian unit says the company may not be able to meet promised targets for reducing toxic wastes from oil sands Shell, which operates two major oil sands surface mines in Alberta, had committed to cutting the amount of waste generated by its Canadian heavy oil extraction projects, but producers […]
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 […]
CEC approves investigation into oil sands
The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has found enough evidence to warrant an investigation into the Canadian government’s failure to enforce the federal Fisheries Act, with respect to continuous leaking from Alberta’s toxic oil sands tailings ponds. Since 2010, the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Canada-based Environmental Defence, as well as three […]
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, […]
Comment: Oil industry taking on well-funded environmental groups
Back in 2004, Wilburforce Foundation stipulated that the purpose of funding the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) was to protect the region “from oil and gas development, through an advocacy campaign that focuses on grizzly bears and critical wildlife habitat,” tax returns say. Since then, the Wilburforce foundation has granted more than US$25 million to environmental […]
Can a new sponge soak up an oil spill?
Is it possible a sponge has been made to soak up an oil spill? That’s what researchers say they have done in Switzerland. Empa Materials Science & Technology has created a highly absorbent sponge like material which is capable of separating oil from water. The good news continues as the sponge is made in an […]
Comment: How a new ‘golden rule’ is shaping oil and gas projects
“Remember the Golden Rule,” said the stunted king from the cartoon The Wizard of Id, “whoever has the gold, makes the rules.” A growing number of institutional investors are heeding the king of Id’s sarcastic “golden rule.” But unlike Parker and Hart’s irreverent cartoon, the real-life outcome of shareholder activism – the influence of the […]
Comment: View of oil sands debate from the soap box
Utah has little problem with their oil sands, yet Alberta’s oil sands and the Key Stone Pipeline is trashed around the world as an environmental nightmare. Why the hypocrisy? This is a question no one seems to want to tackle. Oil sands are the same around the world. You can’t have good and bad oil sand. So why […]
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