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Canadian protesters defy authorities over Trans Mountain pipeline

A proposed pipeline expansion that would transport  tar sands oil  through a park in British Columbia has unified Canadians from all walks of life in their opposition to the project — which they said does not respect public opinion and could endanger both land and sea. “I’ve never seen in my 30 years of being environmentally active an issue that so galvanizes so many people,” said John Bennet, executive director of Sierra Club Canada. “It’s absolutely clear that the public, not just a handful of crazies willing to get arrested, don’t want it.” The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion proposed by Houston-based oil giant Kinder Morgan would see the line’s capacity nearly tripled to 890,000 barrels per day, bringing tar sands oil from Alberta to the British Columbia coast. It would also increase tanker traffic carrying the oil through the pristine waters local residents and First Nations groups depend on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Keystone Left Behind as Canadian Oil Pours Into U.S.

Print Back to story Delays of the Keystone XL pipeline are providing little obstacle to Western Canadian oil producers getting their crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast, with shipments set to more than double next year. The volume of Canadian crude processed at Gulf Coast refineries could climb to more than 400,000 barrels a day in 2015 from 208,000 in August, according to Jackie Forrest , vice president of Calgary-based ARC Financial Corp. The increase comes as Enbridge Inc.’s Flanagan South and an expanded Seaway pipeline raise their capacity to ship oil by as much as 450,000 barrels a day. Canadian exports to the Gulf rose 83 percent in the past four years. The expansion shows Canadians are finding alternative entry points into the U.S. while the Keystone saga drags on. In the latest chapter, a Democratic senator and a Republican representative are seeking votes in their chambers to […]

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Shell Says LNG Canada Project To Cost Up To $35.3B

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/135812/Shell_Says_LNG_Canada_Project_To_Cost_Up_To_353B CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc , the lead partner in the consortium planning the LNG Canada facility on British Columbia’s remote northern coast, said on Friday the project to liquefy natural gas for export to Asia could cost as much as C$40 billion ($35.3 billion) when fully complete. Shell’s cost estimate for the LNG Canada facility near Kitimat, British Columbia, was included in the environmental assessment filed with provincial regulators on Friday. The filing begins a 180-day review of the proposal but the company cautioned it and its partners have not yet decided whether to build the plant. "While today’s announcement is an important step forward for the proposed project, LNG Canada must ensure the project is economically viable and meet several other significant milestones related to gas supply, engineering and cost estimates, supply of labor and regulatory approval prior to making […]

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TransCanada moves closer to eastern Canadian market

TransCanada proposes more pipeline infrastructure for Eastern Canadian markets. (UPI/Shutterstock/tcly) CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Pipeline planner TransCanada Corp. said Tuesday it was moving ahead with a transit system in the east of Canada expected to bring shale gas to the market. The company said it was moving ahead with plans for its Vaughan pipeline project, which it says is the next stage in the development of gas infrastructure in southern Ontario . "Over the past year, TransCanada has announced plans to invest almost $2 billion in facility enhancements to allow growing supplies of Marcellus gas to reach Ontario and Quebec markets," Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer of TransCanada, said in a statement. "These enhancements help minimize the duplication of infrastructure, reduce delivery costs and improve the diversification of gas supply to markets in Eastern Canada." TransCanada in recent weeks has focused its strategies heavily on […]

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Oil Rout to Weigh on Alberta’s Carbon Emissions Policy

Oil’s 25 percent slide since June will play a role in Alberta ’s new climate and carbon regulations, Premier Jim Prentice said. The Canadian province will make a decision by the end of December on whether to raise its levy of C$15 ($13.29) a metric ton for large carbon emitters, while revisions on a broader range of climate policies may come at the same time, Prentice said. The drop in the price of oil, which is probably here to stay for a while, means it’s “time for caution,” he said. “You have to be very careful how you balance the environmental enhancements with the effects on your competitiveness,” Prentice said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Calgary office on Oct. 31. Environmental groups and U.S. and European legislators have highlighted the higher carbon intensity of Alberta’s oil sands, the world’s third largest crude reserves, as a reason for slowing construction […]

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Advocates blast TransCanada pipeline proposal

Critics tell TransCanada its new Energy East oil pipeline will face stiff opposition. UPI/Brian Kersey Pipeline planner TransCanada can expect to face "considerable opposition" to its Energy East tar sands pipeline for the eastern Canada, an advocacy group said. TransCanada submitted a formal permit to move ahead with its Energy East pipeline. The project would add new pipeline and convert existing gas infrastructure to carry Alberta oil to the eastern Canadian market. Advocates with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s International Program said the project puts the eastern Canadian shoreline at risk . "A new tar sands pipeline called Energy East proposed by TransCanada — the company behind the contentious Keystone XL tar sands pipeline — faces considerable opposition and numerous hurdles that make this project far from a done deal," they said in a Thursday statement. TransCanada says Energy East would give refineries a source of domestic crude in […]

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TransCanada: Energy East pipeline application submitted

TransCanada submits application to Canadian regulators for Energy East oil pipeline. (UPI/Shutterstock/tcly) Pipeline planner TransCanada Corp. said Thursday it filed a formal application for its Energy East pipeline project for eastern Canadian oil refineries. The Energy East oil pipeline involves the construction of a new 930-mile segment and converting 1,800 miles of gas line for oil service. It’s designed to carry 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to eastern Canadian refineries. "Energy East will also eliminate the need for Eastern Canada to import most of the 700,000 barrels it consumes every day," Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. TransCanada said Energy East would make eastern Canadian refineries more competitive because they’d be sourced by domestic crude and bring in more than $7 billion in tax revenues during its first 20 years of operation. Critics of the project said […]

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Petrofac goes ultra-deep for Nova Scotia

British oil services company Petrofac to study ultra-deep water reserves off the coast of Nova Scotia. UPI/A.J. Sisco. Nova Scotia tap into potential oil prospects offshore. The provincial government awarded Petrofac with a contract to examine the prospects of oil trapped in the deep waters off the eastern Canadian coast. Nova Scotia’s government estimates there may be as much as 120 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 8 billion barrels of oil offshore. Petrofac said the region is geologically similar to oil basins off the northwest coast of Africa, though reserves offshore Nova Scotia are thought to lie nearly 2 miles below the sea bed in mile-deep waters. Craig Muir, a engineering consultant for Petrofac, said the contract could provide significant returns for the provincial government. "The potential outcomes of this study are of strategic importance for the Nova Scotia government and a great step forward for Petrofac […]

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TransCanada’s Keystone Stand-in Faces $1 Billion Gas Feud

Print Back to story TransCanada Corp. (TRP) will have to spend $1 billion more than planned on an oil pipeline to Canada’s Atlantic Coast if natural gas customers get their way, a move it says would threaten the viability of the project. TransCanada has delayed seeking regulatory approval of the C$12 billion ($10.7 billion) Energy East line as it negotiates with Quebec’s Gaz Metro Inc. and Ontario units of Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) and Enbridge Inc. (ENB) , said two people familiar with the talks who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The spat centers on TransCanada’s plan to convert a 3,000-kilometer (1,865-mile) stretch of its mainline gas conduit to carry oil. The nation’s largest pipeline operator after Enbridge is pursuing Energy East as environmental opposition imperils other planned lines from Canada ’s oil sands to tidewater, including its Keystone XL. Gas distributors claim that converting […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple