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.
BMO helped lift BP's oilsands skepticism
Husky Partnership
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post Published: Thursday, January 31, 2008
CALGARY - The oilsands reached a new level of respect when BPPLC announced a basin-entry, US$11.7-billion partnership with Husky Energy Inc. in December.
The transaction surprised many because of BP's historic skepticism, under former CEO John Browne, towards Alberta's massive oilsands deposits.
First Nations take oilsands concerns to U. K.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/First+Nations+take+oilsands+conc...
<>By Hanneke Brooymans, Edmonton JournalAugust 28, 2009
Three First Nations people from northern Alberta are in London,
protesting the involvement of United Kingdom companies in oilsands
development.
Residents of Fort Chipewyan are especially concerned about some types of
cancer in their communities.
"Because of the people in my community dying and being sick, that's not
Enbridge protester strong-armed
Written by Sonja Ostertag
Prince George
Friday, 31 July 2009
I am a student at UNBC and I attended the Enbridge-sponsored World Baseball Challenge in Prince George on July 25 and 26 to protest the proposed Enbridge pipeline and tanker project.
The peaceful and legal protest was organized by the Dogwood Initiative and our goal was to inform baseball fans that Enbridge is planning to build a pipeline in northern B.C. that could lead to oil spills on the B.C. coast.
Head in the Tar Sands? The New York Times Runs Anti-Peak Oil Op-Ed
BY Anya Kamenetz
Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Earlier this month, the world's chief energy economist told the UK Independent that global oil production was likely to peak in 10 years, with a "global energy crunch" starting as soon as next year.
Canada's bloody oil
UK companies are extracting oil from our traditional lands. We believe it's killing us – and that's why I'm attending Climate Camp
o George Poitras
o guardian.co.uk, Monday 24 August 2009
Wood Buffalo Housing grows in slower economy
Aug 23, 2009
ALEX BOUTILIER
Fort McMurray Today staff
Even with a battered housing market and low oil prices driving Fort McMurray’s economy down, 2008 was a success for the Wood Buffalo Housing and Development Corporation, said president Bryan Lutes, at the non-profit organization's annual general meeting last night.
About 30 people shuffled into the Golden Years Society Activity Centre to listen to reports from Wood Buffalo Housing’s board of directors, from financial statements to planning goals.
Alberta Clipper Pipeline construction under way in North Dakota, Minnesota
Construction of the Alberta Clipper Pipeline is beginning in northern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.
By: Kevin Bonham, Grand Forks Herald
Published August 24 2009
Construction of the Alberta Clipper Pipeline is beginning in northern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.
Harper unloads labour, highways cash
Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 24, 2009
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Prime Minister Stephen Harper came bearing gifts for the Northwest Territories Thursday, speeding up promised cash for highway improvements, plus funding a new labour and training agreement to boost the territories' workforce.
Cash for Highways:
The GNWT and federal government are in a seven-year cost-sharing agreement totalling $198 million to improve roads and airports in the territory.
If Opti (begun by Ormat, Opti's Israeli parent company) were to be bought out by competing energy companies, that would essentially send their "cogeneration" climate intensive, garbage-burning form of production mainstream. It also leads to further consolidation of the majors in the tar sands, making opposition more difficult.
--M
Keep An Eye On This Oil Sands Company
By Joseph Nguyen
August 21, 2009
Oilsands camps brimming despite cuts
By Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal
August 18, 2009
The number of staff in Fort Mc-Murray work camps and lodges has remained high despite the cutbacks of major projects last fall, according to a census released by the Oil Sands Developers Group.
