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.
Shell wants to produce five times more oil from tar sands
* Terry Macalister
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday March 18 2008
This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday March 18 2008 on p32 of the Financial section. It was last updated at 00:49 on March 18 2008.
Shell is gearing up for a huge expansion of its carbon-intensive tar sands operation in Canada at a time when it has been struggling to replace conventional reserves.
EnCana Project Reaps, Refines 'Tar Sands' Oil
March 26, 2008: 08:05 PM EST (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --
On Wednesday we examined how well Canada stands as investors unlock their bank accounts and jump back into stocks. Much of the fortunes up north may depend on commodity prices.
Taking a look at Canada's recent winners, we see lots of natural resources companies, such as oil and gas, gold and silver, base metals, and wheat.
Prices for these raw goods recently plunged after major run-ups, so passing on a gold mine or an oil driller may have been smart.
The people of Hartley Bay feel a bit more uneasy today
Jack Knox, canwest news services
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Six metres of snow in Hartley Bay so far this winter.
Usually it snows, then melts, then rains in a pattern that repeats all season long, but this year it just kept snowing and snowing until it piled high above the raised boardwalks that take the place of roads in the tiny coastal settlement.
Bateman smears famous work to protest pipeline
Video (at link at bottom): Bateman paints over painting in protest
Symbolic smearing meant to demonstrate hazards of spills
Mar 21, 2008 04:30 AM
Petti Fong
Western Canada Bureau Chief
VANCOUVER–Paintbrush in hand, poised over the canvas of orcas swimming in the ocean, wildlife artist Robert Bateman had a momentary feeling of uncertainty.
But when the black paint touched a $2,000 print of his famous painting, Orca Procession, Bateman knew defacing one of his most beloved images was the right thing to do.
Government is listening to polluters
Mar 24, 2008 04:30 AM
John Bennett
Federal Environment Minister John Baird claims new regulations announced this month for industry greenhouse gas emitters are "tough – tougher than any anywhere."
So why aren't environmentalists standing up and cheering?
Only a few years ago Stephen Harper called Kyoto "a socialist plot" – but now his government is calling for future oil-sands operations to capture and store the greenhouse gases they create. The Conservative government sure has come a long way, hasn't it? Well no, it hasn't.
Push to bar oil sands to US military
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: March 18 2008 17:11
The powerful chairman of a key congressional committee is pressing the US federal government to comply with energy legislation that bars the use of fuel from Canada’s oil sands.
The legislation, signed into law Dec 19 last year, prohibits the federal government from procuring fuels with a higher greenhouse gas content than conventional fuels, such as that from Canada’s oil sands or coal-to-liquids.
TransCanada to build new pipeline to US
The TransCanada Company announced that it has been granted permission to build a USD 5.2 billion pipeline to export crude oil to the United States.
The TransCanada Company in a statement said that "The US Department of State issued a presidential permit to Keystone authorizing the construction, maintenance and operation of facilities at the United States and Canada border to transport crude oil between the two countries.”
Syncrude Won't Accept Loss In Oil Sands Royalty Deal - Report
Dow Jones
March 12, 2008: 10:27 AM EST
OTTAWA -(Dow Jones)- Syncrude Canada Ltd. will only accept a new oil sands royalty deal with the Alberta government that "doesn't short-shrift shareholders," shareholder Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO) said, the National Post reported Wednesday.
However, partners in the Syncrude consortium are prepared to negotiate a new agreement under Alberta's new oil and gas royalty scheme, Imperial's outgoing chief executive, Tim Hearn, told the newspaper.
Another hatchet job on oilsands
Industry threatens sovereignty, doc says
Gary Lamphier, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, March 15
EDMONTON - I fully expected a one-sided slag job, featuring the usual assortment of capitalist-bashing, America-loathing lefty ideologues.
I wasn't disappointed. Thursday's airing of Tar Sands: The Selling of Alberta, on CBC Television's Doc Zone, was merely the latest in a string of sensationalist hatchet jobs on Alberta's key industry, courtesy of the national media.
Oilsands emissions could triple under Conservative plan
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, March 14, 2008
Meantime, Environment Canada has confirmed that millions of tonnes of pollution from small facilities will be exempt for companies in sectors such as oil and gas, natural gas pipelines, electricity, chemicals and fertilizers.
