An investigation by CBC has revealed the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S or sour gas) released by the Co-op Refinery Complex is significantly higher than any other refinery in the country. According to Environment Canada while some VOCs are are not a concern, others are toxic and can cause cancer […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: Train riskier than pipeline for oil
People who are adamantly protesting the Northern Gateway pipeline’s tentative approval seem to forget one very important thing. Both the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific Railways are ready to use “unit trains,” similar to the coal trains that rumble along to the Roberts Bank super port, but instead of coal, the trains will be […]
Plan to ship from the oil sands to the east coast runs into a snag
Oil-sands opponents rallied in Bretton Woods, N.H., where New England governors held their annual meeting with eastern Canadian premiers. On the table – energy trade and innovation. “We are calling on Northeast leaders to oppose projects that would bring more tar sands oil into the region, and to implement a regional clean fuel standard along […]
Comment: Make Prince Rupert the terminus
The recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling should give pause to Enbridge to consider that Port of Prince Rupert as a viable alternative of its plan to build two pipelines from Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton, to Kitimat, B.C. Certainly the ruling strengthens the hand of the many small native bands that fish the tributaries of […]
Northern gateway pipeline approval approved in Alberta’s heartland
While environmental groups and First Nations criticized the Harper government for approving the Northern gateway pipeline, the provinces industrial heartland has a different take. Not surprisingly it wants the pipeline to satisfy the 209 conditions and get the go ahead to start building. The Executive Director of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association (AIHA), Neil Shelly, told […]
Iraq Could Be the Country That Gets Keystone Approved
The fact that Iraq is crumbling and could be on the verge of civil war might be what it takes to prompt the US government to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. With record oil production in the United States likely to soften any domestic blow volatility on the world scene will have, America will still […]
Is pipeline company prepared to haze whales?
The pipeline situation in Canada has been contentious for a while. But now, it’s getting positively weird. In the latest twist, the energy giant Kinder Morgan is proposing a novel wildlife protection scheme. If a pipeline expansion that boosts oil exports out of Vancouver leads to a massive new spill, Kinder Morgan says it knows […]