Economics

UTS eyes Fort Hills options as Suncor joins group
Tue Jun 16, 2009
By Jeffrey Jones

CALGARY, Alberta, June 16 (Reuters) - UTS Energy Corp (UTS.TO) has begun to plot out new ways to develop the delayed Fort Hills oil sands project but decisions must wait until Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) closes its takeover of the operator, Petro-Canada (PCA.TO), UTS's chief executive said on Tuesday.

UTS, which has a 20 percent interest in the Alberta oil sands development, sees cost advantages in shifting some of the processing to Suncor's massive northern Alberta operations, CEO Will Roach said.

Exxon boosts pipeline to oil sands by 50%
Joe Carroll, Bloomberg
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil refiner, boosted its capacity to transport crude from Canada's oil sands to refineries in Texas and Louisiana.

Exxon Mobil increased the capacity of its 1,381-kilometre Pegasus Pipeline by 50% to about 96,000 barrels a day, the Irving, Tex.-based company said Wednesday in a statement.

TransCanada To Acquire Remaining ConocoPhillips' Interest in Keystone Pipeline; To Issue $1.6 Bln of Common Shares
6/16/2009

(RTTNews) - Tuesday, energy infrastructure giant TransCanada Corp.(TRP.TO: News ,TRP: News ) revealed an agreement to acquire Keystone Pipeline System through the acquisition of ConocoPhillips' (COP: News ) remaining interest in the project for approximately US$550 million plus the assumption of approximately US$200 million of short-term debt.

Consultation means nothing without consent
June 16, 2009

Three First Nation Band Councils released a joint statement last month in response to the newly proposed Ontario Mining Act, once again raising a critical issue that the Government of Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly failed to recognize: The right to Say NO.

In effect, the absence of this right (the right of consent) in the Ontario Mining Act or any other piece of legislation in Canada is an allowance by the government to molest Indigenous People.

New Climate Report: From Bad to Worse
By Bryan Walsh
Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2009
Time

Even as Congress belatedly tackles legislation that would cut U.S. carbon emissions and international negotiators have bickered over a global climate deal in Bonn, a new report by several federal agencies underscores the truths that too often risk getting lost in politics: global warming is real, it's happening now and if we don't act soon, the consequences are likely to be catastrophic.

Sinkholes surface along Keystone route
Kevin Bonham, Grand Forks Herald
June 17, 2009

A small series of sinkholes — some 30 to 40 feet deep that have swallowed a handful of 20- to 30-foot pine trees — developed this spring in the sandy soil of the Pembina Escarpment along the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline route, limiting access to a spectacular panoramic view of the Pembina Gorge from a North Dakota Forest Service lookout.

The first sinkhole was discovered in March on the pipeline right-of-way along the Cavalier-Pembina county line.

Hibernia South ready to start
Nfld. Project; Construction may begin as soon as next year
By Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
June 16, 2009

CALGARY - Exxon Mobil Corp. is hoping to commence construction as soon as next year on a southern extension to the Hibernia oil project offshore Newfoundland, Mark Albers, senior vice-president, told analysts yesterday.

Can oil deal prompt return to The Rock?
Nathan VanderKlippe and Shawn McCarthy
Calgary, Ottawa — Globe and Mail
Tuesday, Jun. 16, 2009

Is the smell of the sea sweeter than the scent of Alberta crude?

Danny Williams thinks so. The Newfoundland and Labrador Premier trumpeted a major deal yesterday to expand the Hibernia offshore oil platform as another leap forward by a province that has already lured home thousands of workers.

Federal Court Approves of Regulatory Proceedings as an Appropriate Method to Address Aboriginal Concerns

Source: Fasken Martineau - On May 12, 2009, Mr. Justice Barnes of the Federal Court released his Reasons in Brokenhead Ojibway Nation v. Canada, 2009 FC 484. The court upheld the Governor in Council's approval of the National Energy Board's issuance of Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity for the construction of three pipeline projects. The projects are the Keystone Pipeline Project, the Southern Lights Pipeline Project and the Alberta Clipper Pipeline Expansion Project.

Cree lawsuit would drain energy royalties
Native band says 15,000 oilsands developments planned on ancestral land
By Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal
June 12, 2009

The amount Alberta owes First Nations affected by oilsands development could
easily outstrip all the royalties the province has earned off the resource
if courts rule in favour of native bands, said a lawyer for the Beaver Lake
Cree Nation on Thursday.

"We're all expecting an onslaught (of lawsuits) in the next little while,"
said Drew Mildon of Woodwards and Company. "People are reaching their limit
of patience."