Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Energy

Energy and how it is captured and consumed is barely viable in tar sands production. While the amount of oil in places such as the tar sands in Alberta or the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela may have deposits of similar size to the reserves of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, the return of new energy after expending energy in production is not even close. In Iraq, the process of using one barrel of oil generates 100 new barrels. In the tar sands, estimates of 3 to 1 and even as low as 1.5 to 1 have been made. Offsetting the net energy loss would require minimally 25-30 tar sands facilities for one Saudi plant operating at the same capacity.

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[Tar sands?] Alternatives for Alaska gas

Alternatives for Alaska gas
In-state processing would add value

Bob Thomas, Community Perspective

Published Sunday, July 12, 2009

Alberta First Nation gets anti-tar sands help from U.K. co-op

Alberta First Nation gets anti-oilsands help from U.K. co-op
By Vinesh Pratap, Global News
July 7, 2009

LAC LA BICHE, Alta. — A consumer co-operative based in the United Kingdom is joining a small First Nations community in Alberta in its fight to stop the expansion of oilsands development in the province.

The Co-operative Group, a Manchester-based bank, says it will continue to support the 900-member Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Lac La Biche as it prepares to take on the Alberta and Canadian governments in a lawsuit.

Canadian Natural's Horizon producing above capacity

Canadian Natural's Horizon producing above capacity
Wed Jul 8, 2009 3:52pm EDT

CALGARY, Alberta, July 8 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO) has been ramping up production at its new Horizon oil sands project, recently seeing output of up to 120,000 barrels per day, a rate above the project's official capacity, the company's vice-chairman said on Wednesday.

Kinder Morgan pipes march through BC

West Coast oilsands exports at record

Shipments open new markets for Alberta crude

By Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald
July 9, 2009

CALGARY - Exports of oilsands via tanker ships off the West Coast hit an all-time high this spring, the head of the only pipeline company to cross the Rocky Mountains said in Calgary Wednesday.

[Enbridge Gateway] Summit aimed for informed decisions

Summit aimed for informed decisions

Published: July 08, 2009 6:00 AM

Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal and the Alberta oil sands development as a whole were the targets of an All Nations Energy Summit held recently in Moricetown.

Representatives of First Nations from the Athabaskan to Kitamaat were in attendance to voice their opinion about the tar sands and the destruction of their traditional lands.

Shell May Close or Sell Montreal East Oil Refinery

Shell May Close or Sell Montreal East Oil Refinery
By Guy Collins

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc may close or sell its Montreal East refinery in Quebec, Canada, among various options it’s considering for the plant as part of a global review of assets.

Possibilities include the sale of the refinery and some associated downstream businesses; closure of the plant; conversion into a terminal; establishment of a joint venture; or continued operation, a Shell spokesman said today by telephone, declining to be identified in line with company policy.

Enbridge Southern Access Pipe not given eminent domain; Will "re-apply".

ICC approves oil pipeline, not eminent domain
By Jeffrey Tomich
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/09/2009

The Illinois Commerce Commission will allow the construction of a 170-mile oil pipeline that will deliver crude from Canada's oil sands to a storage hub about an hour east of St. Louis.

But regulators said it was premature to give the Calgary-based developer, Enbridge Inc., authority to use eminent domain to acquire an easement for the project if it cannot negotiate an agreement with landowners.

O’Connor says he was ‘bullied’ by committee

O’Connor says he was ‘bullied’ by committee
CAROL CHRISTIAN
July 6, 2009
Today staff

When local physician Dr. John O'Connor appeared June 11 in Ottawa before the federal committee looking into the impact of oilsands development on freshwater, it wasn't the enlightening question and answer session he expected.

Instead he was grilled about his credentials, background and the last remaining complaint filed by Health Canada of causing undue alarm when he blew the whistle on elevated cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan.

"Little Hope In the Mackenzie Gas Project"

Little hope in the pipeline

Repeated delays of Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline have Inuvik seeing red

By Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
July 2, 2009

Inuvik, N.W.T. -- The conversation in this town of 3,500 in the Western Arctic should be about aboriginal self-sufficiency, environmentally responsible Northern development and a new clean-energy storehouse with immense potential. After all, the proposed $16.2-billion Mackenzie Valley natural-gas pipeline project was supposed to be under construction by now.

Victory in San Francisco: Community and Public Health Advocates Halt Chevron Refinery Expansion

** Community and Public Health Advocates Halt Chevron Refinery Expansion
_________________________________________________

For Immediate Release: July 2, 2009

Contact:

Will Rostov, Earthjustice, (510) 550-6725
Torm Nompraseurt, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, (510) 323-5245
Greg Karras, Communities for a Better Environment, (415) 902-2666
Henry Clark, West County Toxics Coalition, (510) 232-3427

Community and Public Health Advocates Halt Chevron Refinery Expansion at
Richmond, CA

Martinez, CA – Contra Costa County Superiior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga has