Economics

Suncor, Petro-Canada announce merger
Last Updated: Monday, March 23, 2009
CBC News

Appealing to Canadian nationalism, Suncor Energy Inc. and Petro-Canada said Monday that a proposed merger between the two oil players would create the country's largest energy company and provide the oil patch with protection against potential foreign buyouts.

"I don't know if it is a marriage made in heaven. But it is a match made in Canada," said Suncor's president and CEO Rick George in announcing the all-stock deal to create a $43 billion behemoth.

From the Athabasca to the Saint Lawrence and the Great Lakes:
Events in Montréal, Toronto, Ann Arbor and Chicago.

Montreal Event:
Tar Sands: Stopping the flow of destruction
from the ATHABASCA to the SAINT LAWRENCE
WHEN: Friday March 20, 7pm
WHERE: Room 26, Stephen Leacock Bldg (855 Sherbrooke Ouest)

Toronto Event:
WHEN: Saturday, March 21, 7pm
WHERE: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
252 Bloor St. West, Room 5-250

Ann Arbor Event:
Tuesday, March 24. TBA

Chicago Event:
WHEN: Wednesday, March 25. 6:45pm.
WHERE: The Lincoln Park Library Auditorium.

March 19th, 2009
Tar sands to blacken MTL?
Punching holes in tar sands pipeline
Meg Hewings

A giant pipeline extension carrying over 200,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day into or through Montreal for refining has stalled because of the credit crunch.

"This is temporary," warns Macdonald Stainsby of OilSandsTruth.org . "The slowdown we are seeing in tar sands development is not because of political opposition or new environmental regulations, but a lack of excess capital available in the construction industry."

Is this the risk we should take?
March 18, 2009
Smithers Interior News

On March 24, 1989 the Exxon Valdez began spilling what amounted to approximately 40 million litres of crude oil into Prince William Sound. While the incident ranks well down on the list of the world’s largest oil spills by volume, it is considered one of the most devastating.

As we commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez, it’s worth looking at the trauma that 40 million litres of misplaced oil can cause, and comparing it to what is being asked of Northern communities today.

Former Fort Chip doctor calls for oilsands slowdown
Last Updated: Monday, March 9, 2009
CBC News

Dr. John O'Connor, shown here in Edmonton Sunday, is featured in Downstream, a documentary by American filmmaker Leslie Iwerks. Dr. John O'Connor, shown here in Edmonton Sunday, is featured in Downstream, a documentary by American filmmaker Leslie Iwerks. (CBC)

The doctor who first raised concerns about cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., three years ago — and became the target of a professional complaint — said on Sunday he'd do it all again.

Conference to spotlight ground water issues
Staff Reports • Argus Leader • March 16, 2009

The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources will host its 21st annual Environmental and Ground Water Quality Conference on Wednesday and Thursday at the AmericInn Teton Island Conference Center in Fort Pierre.

The conference is free and open to the public. It will feature new technologies and findings in ground water testing and remediation, the latest developments in ground water quality regulation and a forum to exchange ideas on ground water protection and cleanup.

Budget triples for Mackenzie Valley review panel
SHAWN MCCARTHY AND NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE
March 16, 2009

OTTAWA and CALGARY -- The budget for the panel reviewing the proposed $16-billion Mackenzie Valley Pipeline has nearly tripled amid delays that have frustrated industry and government, an internal federal report says.

The report from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency says the Joint Review Panel's costs have risen to $18-million, from the original budget of $6.8-million when it was established in the summer of 2004.

CNRL PR: First oil produced at Horizon project

ALBERTA — The first synthetic crude oil from the Horizon oil sands project was produced on Feb. 28, 2009, reported owner Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNRL). The event marked four years of construction work.

Double talk on tar sands
Mar 01, 2009 04:30 AM
Toronto Star

Alberta's tar sands have always been a political hot potato. Now they are being tarred by no less an authority than National Geographic as a blight on the boreal forests and a pox on the planet.

There is something about being featured in foreign publications that captures the attention of Canadians unlike anything else. Now, federal politicians are weighing in with alacrity, if not quite clarity, about the place of the tar sands in Canada's future.

Tarsands are an addiction
By SILVER DONALD CAMERON
Sun. Mar 15 - 6:22 AM

THE ALBERTA tarsands, says Andrew Nikiforuk, represent "a nation-changing event" which has made the rest of Canada into "a suburb of Fort McMurray." A distinguished Calgary-based journalist, Nikiforuk was in Nova Scotia in early March to discuss his new book, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent (Greystone, $20).