Economics

Pipe From India Incenses Illinois Town
Dan Gill for The New York Times

Steel pipes marked "Made in India" sat ready for the Canada-to-Oklahoma pipeline at the Port Authority in Granite City, Ill.

April 15, 2009

GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Jeff Rains, a retired steel worker at the sprawling mill here, made the discovery. Out walking a month ago, he waited impatiently at a rail crossing while a freight train slowly passed, its flatbed cars stacked with steel pipes, each wide enough for a child to crawl through. Then he noticed “Made in India” stenciled on the pipes.

Suncor fined over $1-million
Apr. 02 2009
ctvcalgary.ca

Suncor and one of its contractors have been ordered to pay over $1 million in fines after pleading guilty to breaching environmental laws.

Suncor pleaded guilty to not having emissions controls at its Firebag oilsands facility.

The lack of pollution control equipment meant hydrogen sulphide and other compounds were released into the air.

For this violation, Suncor Energy Inc. has been fined $675,000.

Suncor is also in trouble for allowing sewage to be dumped into the Athabasca River.

Petro-Canada Cuts 200 Jobs From Oil-Sands Unit On Proj Delay
* APRIL 15, 2009

OTTAWA (Dow Jones)--Petro-Canada (PCZ) is cutting some 200 jobs in its oil-sands unit as its Fort Hills project remains stalled amid weakened oil prices and the stuttering economy.

The layoffs, which will affect nearly a third of the department's employees, are "absolutely not at all connected" to the merger with Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) announced last month, said Petro-Canada spokeswoman Kelli Stevens.

United Steelworkers Challenges TransCanada Keystone Pipeline Permit for Safety

PITTSBURGH, PA UNITED STATES

Joins Sierra Club filing on leak risk of under-standard thin-wall pipe

PITTSBURGH, April 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) announced it has challenged the pending federal permit in the controversial $5.4 billion TransCanada Keystone Pipeline that's using under-standard thin-wall pipe for transport of crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Houston, Tex.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO)

Enbridge analyzed
By Rebecca Billard - Burns Lake Lakes District News
April 07, 2009 11:00 PM

The Hill Times, April 13, 2009
Carbon capture and storage 'being oversold as a panacea'
But critics and experts say there are geological risks, it's a waste of taxpayers' money and the 'economics are deadly.'

By Bea Vongdouangchanh

Promise To Protect The Great Bear Rainforest A Cruel Joke.
Where Is The Outrage?

China buys more of oil sands; Now owns 50% of proposed mine
By Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
April 2, 2009

The purchase of an additional 10% interest in the proposed Northern Lights oil sands project Wednesday by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) points to a renewal of interest by the Chinese in Canada's oil, said a University of Alberta expert.

If Suncor sells foreign assets, will China buy?
DAVID EBNER
April 8, 2009

Suncor Energy Inc. SU-T will likely create a "fortress North America" if it completes its $19-billion merger with Petro-Canada, jettisoning international assets to hungry buyers such as China as it focuses on the oil sands, natural gas and East Coast offshore oil.

Shell affirms "too uncertain" outlook for oil industry
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

* Links Niger delta crisis, falling oil prices to low output
By Taiwo Hassan, with Agency Reports

CITING falling oil prices and crisis in Nigeria's Niger delta region, Anglo Dutch oil giant, Shell, has conceded that the industry's outlook has become "too uncertain" for long term projections.