Economics

NEB head pleased with process
DAVID EBNER // October 1, 2007

CALGARY -- The epic regulatory review of the Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline has been a success in terms of collecting and assessing the many views on the controversial project, according to the new chairman of the National Energy Board.

"I feel we've done a superb job listening to everybody, carefully," said Gaétan Caron, in his first formal interview. "We haven't cut any corners. We've taken into account all the views people have about the project and we will finish the task of hearing the evidence in October."

Energy Roundup: Oil Prices Gain
Oil Prices Top $83, Sunny Day for Solar Shares, GE Building a Plant in Vietnam
September 28, 2007: 01:09 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - The following is a summary of top stories in the energy sector at midday Friday.

Oil Heads for Record Territory Again

Oil futures climbed past $83 a barrel, as the steadily weakening dollar continued to draw buyers into commodity markets.

This is sadly one of those articles that cannot be published uncommented. The mad rush towards the north for Uranium, oil & gas, coal, Coalbed Methane, diamonds and more-- has already been basically handed to the federal government by those who have advanced much of the protected areas strategy.

Prentice awaits input over aid for Mackenzie
'It's really in the hands of the proponents,' Industry Minister says
DAVID EBNER AND NORVAL SCOTT
September 22, 2007

BANFF AND CALGARY -- Imperial Oil Ltd. still hasn't restarted negotiations with Ottawa over potential federal aid for the beleaguered $16-billion Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline project.

"We are awaiting a response from industry," Jim Prentice, federal Industry Minister, said in an interview in Banff Thursday night before his first major speech in his new job.

Anytime Diane Francis starts her turgid prose, if you instinctively stay on the opposite side of whatever she is saying then you will probably be fairly safe. In this case, the rule holds. Ever more so, however, is a slight admission contained within the article: "There's enough already to produce one billion cubic feet per day and the pipeline needs 1.3 billion a day," why, pray tell, does the pipeline "need" 1 billion point three cubic feet a day?

America's New Religion, Part II
Dubai, UAE
Thursday, September 27, 2007

Long emergency or long march back to the cave? You decide,
Resurrection the mainline of American industrial power,
Tarantulas and the Gila monsters in Las Vegas and more...
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Joel Bowman, reporting from the sweltering Middle East...

Yesterday we brought you an essay by James Howard Kunstler. Mr. Kunstler is the author of the book, "The Long Emergency," in which he predicted, as Eric pointed out yesterday, "the end of the privileged, energy-dependent American lifestyle."

Canada's Mackenzie Valley pipe project is finally back on track
By Tim Bradner // September 23, 2007
Alaska Journal of Commerce

The Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline in Canada's Northwest Territories may finally be on track after delays in regulatory proceedings, the territory's industry minister told an oil and gas symposium in Anchorage on Sept. 17.

Energy Corporations on offensive against Alberta royalty report
Last Updated: Monday, September 24, 2007 | 6:01 PM MT
CBC News

Oil and gas producers, angry with a government report that recommends hiking the royalties they pay, shot back Monday warning higher royalty rates will be a major blow to Alberta's energy sector.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents major companies in the industry, says last week's report is flawed.

Conservation, not pipeline, gaining N.W.T. support: poll
Last Updated: Monday, September 24, 2007 | 5:43 PM CT
CBC News

Support among residents of the Northwest Territories is waning for the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, while interest in conservation is rising, according to the results of a poll released Monday.

The poll, conducted by McAllister Opinion Research, says backing for the pipeline is at 68 per cent, which is down six per cent from its last poll in 2004.

Hundreds march in Edmonton to protest labour laws
Canadian Press
September 22, 2007 at 10:21 PM EDT

EDMONTON — Hundreds of angry and loud tradespeople have laid Alberta's labour code to rest in a dramatic mock funeral.

Protest organizer Eric Klyne led the funeral procession to the legislature Saturday, flanked by men dressed as the grim reaper and a priest.

The demonstration capped off two weeks of labour unrest that began following an Alberta Labour Relations Board ruling that forbid the carpenters union from going on strike.