Economics drive tar sands operations. Record highs in oil prices, though still fluctuating, will make tar sand oil ‘economical’ (read: profitable) well into the future. Government subsidies to this environmentally disastrous process remain in place from a time when the federal government was sponsoring research into the possibility of recovering this oil. Stock prices of tar sands developers grow the more conventional oil is scarce.
Peter Carrels : Why an oil refinery is a step in the wrong direction
Saturday, August 23, 2008
In South Dakota, politicians and business leaders are cheering a massive oil refinery planned for the state’s southeast corner. If built, it will be the first oil refinery constructed in the United States in more than 30 years.
Why oil won't fall below $100
With a surge in the price of global commodities, it's costing more to produce a barrel of oil than ever before.
By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: August 22, 2008: 3:47 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Last week, falling oil prices looked unstoppable. The last few days have seen a halt in that slide. Still with prices well below the record set in July and a shaky world economy threatening demand, the question remains: How low can oil go?
Iraq Signs Oil Deal With China Worth Up to $3 Billion
August 29, 2008
By ERICA GOODE and RIYADH MOHAMMED
BAGHDAD — In the first major oil deal Iraq has made with a foreign
country since 2003, the Iraqi government and the China National
Petroleum Corporation have signed a contract in Beijing that could be
worth up to $3 billion, Iraqi officials said Thursday.
Under the new contract, which must still be approved by Iraq's
cabinet, the Chinese company will provide technical advisers, oil
workers and equipment to help develop the Ahdab oil field southeast of
Canada's Harper Says Mackenzie Pipeline to `Come to Fruition'
By Theophilos Argitis and Alexandre Deslongchamps
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he is ``optimistic'' Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Mackenzie pipeline project will ``come to fruition.''
``I am optimistic that in the not-too-distant future this project will come to fruition,'' Harper told reporters today in the village of Tuktoyaktuk on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
*Groups sue feds to stop pipeline*
*By Janell Cole*
*State Capitol Bureau - 08/08/2008*
BISMARCK — Environmental groups, including one from North Dakota, have sued
the U.S. State Department to stop the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, saying
the government failed to fully consider its health and environmental hazards
before giving approval.
The listed hazards include global warming.
The company said there is nothing wrong with how the federal government
examined the line's environmental impacts.
The Natural Resources Defense Fund, Dakota Resource Council of Dickinson,
Oilsands housing expansion announced
Dave Cooper, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Tuesday, August 26
EDMONTON - For the sixth time since 2007, PTI Group's Wapasu Creek Lodge near the Suncor plant north of Fort McMurray is set to expand.
The facility will grow to 2,942 rooms, an increase of 672 dorm-style rooms, to accommodate a mix of workers from the surrounding oilsands area. Oil States International (NYSE:OIS), owner of PTI, expects the new rooms to be opened by mid-2009.
"We foresee more expansion in the future to serve our multiple clients," says spokesman Bradley Dodson.
Shell slammed over "sustainable" tar sands advert
ASA rules advert claiming tar sands projects are part of a "sustainable future" is misleading
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 13 Aug 2008
Oil giant Shell has once again had its knuckles rapped by the watchdog for overstating its green credentials after it claimed in an advert that its $10bn oil sands project in northern Canada represented a "sustainable energy source".
Take Charge: Dirty Work in Alberta
By Morgan Goodwin - August 26, 2008
Take Charge Campaign
This newsletter is provided by the Take Charge Campaign, a local initiative to encourage and to help people to conserve energy. It is published twice a month.
This week in Dirty Energy: Alberta Tar Sands
What's happening in the Alberta tar sands in Canada is the most destructive project on Earth, according to Environmental Defence. Thousands of square miles of tundra are being scraped away to harvest an oil-rich layer of earth between 10 and 80 feet deep.
NAFTA paves U. S. route to energy from north
Pipelines may let area share boom
By Jerry Zremski NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Beneath the forests of Alberta, 2,300 miles miles northwest of Buffalo, you’ll find the latest black gold: a mix of sand and oil being mined as a new kind of gusher.
And Alberta’s Athabasca Oil Sands are just part of a petroleum boom that has made Canada the world’s top supplier of oil to the United States.
Canadian Oil Officials to Meet With Obama Adviser, Star Reports
By Sean B. Pasternak
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian government and oil industry officials will meet with Senator Barack Obama's top energy adviser today to promote Canada's oil-sands industry, the Toronto Star reported.
The meeting with Jason Grumet will be led by Conservative Party member Tony Clement, the Star said. Officials are hoping to shed Canada's label of producing expensive oil that requires large amounts of energy and water to extract, the newspaper reported.
