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Alberta Says ‘Quid Pro Quo’ With U.S. Required on Carbon Rules

Alberta won’t raise its levy on greenhouse-gas emissions unless the U.S. acts on the issue, Premier Alison Redford said. “In Alberta, we’re not looking to increase our price on carbon unless there’s going to be a move from the United States ,” Redford said in a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio interview that aired today. “There has to be a quid pro quo.” Redford is heading to Washington this month to lobby for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline that would connect Alberta’s oil sands with Gulf Coast refineries. She plans to discuss the existing C$15 ($14.40) per metric ton that the province levies on carbon from emitters that don’t meet greenhouse-gas reduction targets, she said. Canada has delayed implementing regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions for the oil and natural gas industry. The federal government has said it’s working with Alberta, where most of Canada’s energy companies are based, […]

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French energy company Total investing in Canadian oil project

PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) — French energy company Total said it decided to proceed with an investment in an oil sands project in Canada, that is expected to yield 180,000 barrels per day. Total said it expected to spend more than $13.5 billion in the four years it should take to develop the Fort Hills oil sands mining project in Alberta, approximately 55 miles north of Fort McMurray. “With an expected mine life in excess of 50 years based on current planned production rates, Fort Hills represents more than 3 billion barrels of resources and strengthens Total’s global portfolio by adding geographic diversity and long-plateau production with limited geosciences risk,” Yves-Louis Darricarrere, president of upstream operations for Total, said in a statement. Total has been involved in Canadian operations for 15 years. Last year, it was associated with the production of about 12,000 barrels of oil per day in […]

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Shell moves ahead with 80,000 bpd project in Alberta, Canada

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 31 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday it was moving ahead with a project in Alberta, Canada, expected to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day. “I’m pleased we’re moving ahead with this important project,” Lorraine Mitchelmore, a vice president in charge of heavy oil developments, said in a statement. “Our decision to invest in Carmon Creek has been carefully studied with the goal of designing a project that is competitive from a commercial, technological and environmental perspective.” Shell owns a 100 percent stake in the Carmon Creek facility. Heavier grades of Canadian oil are too thick to flow naturally so Shell will use a steam injection system to heat the oil and reduce its viscosity. “Once the project is up and running the aim is to virtually eliminate the need for freshwater use for steam generation through recycling of water produced with the […]

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No Pipeline? Exxon Thinks About Taking the Train

REUTERS By Daniel Gilbert Exxon Mobil Corp.’s ambition of boosting production depends in large part on wringing more crude from the oil sands of Western Canada. One challenge: Getting that crude to market to get paid. With room on Canadian oil pipelines in short supply, and the future of the proposed Keystone XL project in doubt , Exxon is considering building a rail terminal in Edmonton, Alberta to haul crude into the U.S. on trains, a company executive said on Thursday. “We are looking at a number of logistical opportunities that we have,” David Rosenthal, Exxon’s head of investor relations, said of routes out of the oil sands, including Keystone XL. “But, as would be prudent, we are looking at other options” like the rail terminal. Some big refiners have pooh-poohed the importance of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline expansion, which would carry crude to the hub of refineries […]

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Looking for a Way Around Keystone XL, Canadian Oil Hits the Rails

HOUSTON — Over the past two years, environmentalists have chained themselves to the White House fence and otherwise coalesced around stopping the Keystone XL pipeline as their top priority in the fight against global warming. But even if President Obama rejects the pipeline, it might not matter much. Oil companies are already building rail terminals to deliver oil from western Canada to the United States, and even to Asia. Since July, plans have been announced for three large loading terminals in western Canada with the combined capacity of 350,000 barrels a day — equivalent to roughly 40 percent of the capacity of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that is designed to bring oil from western Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast. Over all, Canada is poised to quadruple its rail-loading capacity over the next few years to as much as 900,000 barrels a day, up from 180,000 today. […]

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Keystone XL Review Hijacked by Activists TransCanada Says

TransCanada Corp. (TRP) chief executive Russ Girling acknowledged that opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline have slowed its approval, though he said his company remains committed to the project. “There’s no question that the noise outside is having an influence on the process,” he said today, in an interview in Washington . “The project has been hijacked by activists that are opposed to the development of all fossil fuels.” Girling, who met with State Department officials about the project yesterday, expressed frustration with the five-year review by U.S. regulators, saying the process for evaluating cross-border energy projects must change. He said he has stopped giving the company’s investors an estimate of when the approval process will be complete. “I think we have exhausted everything that could possibly be asked,” he said. Still, he said TransCanada, which is based in Calgary, would continue pushing to build the $5.3 billion link […]

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Suncor Approves $12.9 Billion Oil Sands Project With Teck, Total

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) , Canada’s largest energy company by market value, will proceed with the C$13.5 billion ($12.9 billion) Fort Hills oil sands project as it seeks to increase production. The venture with Total SA (FP) and Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK/B) will begin producing crude in 2017, adding 180,000 barrels a day of output in northern Alberta , the company said yesterday in a statement. Calgary-based Suncor’s share of the costs will be C$5.5 billion. The approval comes after Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams earlier this year canceled another venture with Total in a bid to reduce costs and boost profitability. Fort Hills, which had initially been slated to start in 2016, has 3.3 billion barrels of reserves and will produce oil for about 50 years, the company said. “This project will be a significant source of long-term cash flow for the company and contribute strong returns for […]

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