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 hammered at hearing over refinery
Produced 90,000 barrels per day. Company must dismantle refinery and decontaminate soil
By KEVIN DOUGHERTY,
The Gazette
October 20, 2010
Nicolas Houle, director of Shell Canada's Montreal East oil refinery, got a rough ride yesterday at special National Assembly hearings challenging the company's decision to shut down the facility.
"Why should I give you a permit to dismantle it?" asked Natural Resources Minister Nathalie Normandeau.
Enbridge Energy could be Minnesota's BP
Oil company has friends on the PUC
By Justin Horwath Wednesday, Oct 20 2010
The Midwest is a new market for companies with leases in Alberta, Canada's tar sands fields, which constitute the largest untapped oil supply in the world outside Saudi Arabia.
Enbridge Energy and other pipeline companies have been in a race to tap the Gulf and East Coast markets, and soon enough, companies with leases in the tar sands will have access to the entire U.S.
Can the Canadian Economy Afford the Tar Sands?
Jeffrey Rubin
Economist // October 19, 2010
America is banking on a lot more Canadian bitumen exports to supply it with oil in the future. Already the single largest source of the US's imported oil, the Alberta tar sands' supply could soon comprise as much as almost a third of America's total oil imports -- apart from the fact that it's far from clear whether or not the rest of the Canadian economy could afford the consequences.
Activists increase scrutiny of industry
No Stopping Shareholders; Influence key to corporate transparency
By Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald
October 6, 2010
Unconventional resource development such as oilsands and shale gas is increasingly drawing the attention of shareholder activists and influencing corporate decision-making, the head of one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies said in Calgary Tuesday.
Imperial's oilsands modules traverse circuitous route
By Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal October 16, 2010
With Imperial's $8-billion Kearl oilsands project now about 25 per cent complete, the first two South Koreanmade modules have arrived by barge in Lewiston, Idaho, after a 500-kilometre trip from the U.S. West Coast.
A shipload of modules arrived on Oct. 3 at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., across from Portland on the Columbia River. The units were loaded onto barges and towed up the Columbia and Snake rivers to Lewiston.
Junior oilsands players receive legislative green lights on projects
Southern Pacific Resources and Laricina Energy get Orders in Council
By Dina O'Meara, Calgary Herald October 18, 2010
CALGARY - Junior oilsands players Southern Pacific Resources Corp. and Laricina Energy have received provincial approvals for their thermal projects in northeastern Alberta.
Canada-US pipeline on hold amid oil's recent woes
By JAMES MacPHERSON and JOSH FUNK
BISMARCK, N.D.
A company waiting for the U.S. government to approve the last leg of its multibillion-dollar oil pipeline network between Canada and the United State may be running into public concerns stemming from recent oil disasters.
Some experts conclude the so-called Keystone XL pipeline is a victim of guilt by association amid the negative publicity of the Gulf Coast oil rig explosion and other spills.
Oilsands closure not an option for NDP
By FRANK LANDRY, Legislature Bureau
Last Updated: October 5, 2010
Alberta’s NDP does not want to shut down the oilsands, says Leader Brian Mason.
It’s a point Mason said he wants to drive home as he tours the province, talking up the party’s policies.
“It’s part of correcting this perception that (Premier) Ed Stelmach and the Conservative government have been trying to spread about where we stand,” said Mason, in Fort McMurray on Tuesday, outlining his party’s stance on jobs and the oilsands.
Proposed oil refinery the center of political debate
Iowa politicians weigh environmental risks against potential economic gains
By Matt Vasilogambros 10/6/10
The Iowa Independent
A proposed 400,000-barrel-per-day tar sands oil refinery along the South Dakota-Iowa border is stirring an increasingly polarizing debate, bringing both environmental and economic concerns to the forefront. The refinery is even becoming an issue in the gubernatorial campaign between Republican Terry Branstad and Democrat Chet Culver.
Minnesota and Alberta Tar Sands
By Kevin Karner, TC Daily Planet
October 11, 2010
A September 22 forum at St. Thomas University, Alberta Tar Sands: Minnesota's Dirty Oil Secret explored Minnesota's dependence on the oil sands of Alberta.
