Peak Oil is starting to be understood across a broad spectrum, but the direct connection between peak oil, climate change and the American market-led attempt to squeeze all energy out of Alberta cannot be overstated. The smaller the global supply of oil gets, the more CO2 has been emitted and the more climate change will have advanced. This leads to more interest in the tar sands—because the profit margin goes ever higher the fewer alternatives there are for petroleum. Without Peak Oil bearing down on humanity, no economical reason would exist to produce this energy intensive, low-output petrol.
Big-league players step up for oil sands
U.S. lobbying
By Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
March 11, 2009
As Alberta's oil sands industry struggles with depressed oil prices and opposition from the environmental movement, a new front is emerging to support it -- in Washington.
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.
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.
Total: May Delay Joslyn Oil Sands Proj Decision To Cut Costs
* APRIL 6, 2009, 1:17 P.M. ET
OTTAWA (Dow Jones)--Total SA (TOT) may delay its investment decision for the proposed C$9 billion Joslyn oil sands mine in northern Alberta by a few months as it looks to cut project costs, the company said Monday.
The French oil major holds a 74% interest in the oft-stalled development and had previously intended to make a go-ahead decision in early 2010.
Abu Dhabi National Said to Be Chasing Canadian Deals
By Joe Carroll
March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., the Persian Gulf petroleum and power producer known as Taqa, is hunting for acquisitions in Canada’s tar sands, home of the world’s second-largest crude deposits outside Saudi Arabia, according to two people involved in the search.
Taqa is assessing multiple potential targets that extract crude from Canada’s oil-soaked bogs and river valleys, according to people who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to make the information public.
Yesterday's fuel, yesterday's deal
The real 'crude' in Suncor's takeover of Petro-Canada — long stripped of its Canada-first credentials — is the push to deliver ever more 20th-century fossil fuels when the world is moving to renewables
GORDON LAXER
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
March 25, 2009
This is the real nature of what will happen during the economic downturn if we "leave the market devices to take care of things themselves"-- the amalgamation of tar sands operators into the world's largest energy companies only. As capital hurts, the biggest players survive and the medium to smaller players disappear. We must escalate the campaigns while they are teetering or else have a much harder time when the reality of peak oil inevitably drives the price of tar sands bitumen (and oil in general) right back where it all started a year ago.
--M
Well matched
Mar 26th 2009
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.
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."
Alberta urged to halt oilpatch water use
By Hanneke Brooymans,
Canwest News Service
February 9, 2009
A water-scarce future means Alberta should switch from coal-fired power to renewable energy, dismiss the idea of nuclear power, and dramatically reduce the oilpatch's water use by 2020, says a new Pembina Institute report.
One-third of all water allocated in the province in 2007 was for energy production, says the report, being released today.
