Labour / Migration

The Rock's most precious resource
Gordon Pitts

Rushoon, Nfld. — Globe and Mail Aug. 12, 2009

As a 17-year-old with an adventurous spirit, Ann-Marie Cheeseman spent part of last summer driving 40-ton trucks in the Alberta oil sands. She made big money for a Newfoundland teenager, clearing close to $3,000 a week.

But she doesn't want to return to the oil sands, leaving her family and friends in the harbour village of Rushoon on the wild, beautiful Burin Peninsula. “I'd go back to Alberta only if I had to,” she says firmly.

Canada's oil patch open for Chinese business: Flaherty
By Jorge Barrera, the Financial Post
August 10, 2009

Jim Flaherty, Canada's finance minister, speaks at the opening of a Bank of Montreal branch in Beijing, China, on Monday. Canada wants Chinese state-run entities such as China Investment Corp. to consider North American listings.

Jim Flaherty, Canada's finance minister, speaks at the opening of a Bank of Montreal branch in Beijing, China, on Monday. Canada wants Chinese state-run entities such as China Investment Corp. to consider North American listings.

Suncor’s Edmonton refinery suffers processing problem
David Finlayson, edmontonjournal.com
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Black smoke emitted from the Suncor refinery east of Edmonton on August 12, 2009.

EDMONTON - It will take “days not hours” to get Suncor’s Edmonton refinery back to full production after a problem at its hydrogen supplier caused the shutdown of some units for the second time in a month, the company said Thursday.

New pipeline from oilsands
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
11th August 2009

CALGARY -- Inter Pipeline Fund says major construction work has wrapped up on a $1.8-billion expansion to a pipeline that links a major oilsands mine near Fort McMurray to the Edmonton area.

The Calgary-based energy transporter said yesterday it has finished installing 467 km of 42-in. diameter pipeline and 43 km of 20-in. diameter pipeline as part of the Corridor expansion and is $100 million under budget, having "materially eliminated its exposure to cost overrun risk."

Suncor Energy Reports Oil Sands Production Numbers for July 2009
Market Wire

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 6, 2009) - Suncor Energy Inc. reported today that production at its oil sands facility during July averaged approximately 304,000 barrels per day (bpd). Year-to-date oil sands production at the end of July averaged approximately 292,000 bpd. Suncor is targeting average oil sands production of 300,000 bpd (+5%/-10%) in 2009.

The oil patch's latest boom: Substance abuse
Carrie Tait, Financial Post
August 11, 2009

Buses carry oil workers to their jobs in Fort McMurray Alta. Alcohol abuse proved to be one of the most "chronic" challenges in the oil industry's labour force, according to a recent report. Brent Foster/National Post Staff Buses carry oil workers to their jobs in Fort McMurray Alta. Alcohol abuse proved to be one of the most "chronic" challenges in the oil industry's labour force, according to a recent report.

Open letter calls for renegotiating NAFTA and an end to SPP ahead of summit
By Staff

Common Frontiers, a network of church, labour, environmental, and civil society groups, and the Réseau québcois sur l’Intégration continentale have sent the following open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of his summit next week with U.S president Barack Obama and Mexican president Felipe Calderón in Guadalajara, Mexico:

An Open Letter To Prime Minister Stephen Harper Re: North American Leaders Summit

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

Global Peak Oil In 10 Years - IEA Sounds Alarm

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Global peak oil rapidly approaching
In an interview with the UK's The Independent, Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA), sounded an alarm that global oil production is likely to peak in around 10 years; far earlier than most governments had foreseen. The International Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organisation which acts as energy policy advisor to 28 member countries, including Australia.

Palin's Pipeline: Clean Energy for the Lower 48 or Power for the Tar Sands?
by Abby Schultz - Jun 29th, 2009

Where the natural gas from the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline will end up is a murky question tied up in a 30-year-old treaty, expansion of Canadian tar sands operations, and trends in natural gas supplies both in the United States and in Canada.

Irving Oil and BP Will Not Proceed With Proposed Second Refinery
Release date: 24 July 2009

BP and Irving Oil announced today they will not be moving forward at this time with the proposed second refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, as a result of global economic and industry conditions
The joint technical and commercial feasibility study that the two companies have been conducting over the last 18 months concluded that the project was not viable at a time of global economic recession and dampening forecasts for petroleum product demand in North America.