Alberta

Sept 16, 2016 CALGARY — The Alberta government has approved three oilsands projects that it says represent about $4 billion of potential investments, though it’s unclear whether any of the projects will go ahead.

The projects include the Blackpearl Resources’s Blackrod project, Surmont Energy’s Wildwood project, and Husky Energy’s Saleski project that together total about 95,000 barrels of potential production.

Shell Canada Ltd. says the first carbon-capture project in the oil sands has successfully stored one million tonnes of carbon dioxide deep underground after a year of operation.

The company, which developed the $1.35-billion Quest project with the help of $745-million from the Alberta government and $120-million from Ottawa, says the project is operating ahead of schedule and under budget.

Back in June, shortly before the Harper-appointed National Energy Board gave a thumbs-up to Kinder Morgan’s oil tanker proposal, the Liberals announced the creation of a new review panel tasked with “restoring public trust in Canada’s environmental and regulatory processes.”

Barely two months later, the panel has failed spectacularly. Not only has the slapdash process failed to restore trust, it has actually dragged our faith in Canada’s pipeline and tanker reviews to historic new lows.

TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2016 /CNW/ - The union bargaining for over 8,500 energy and chemical workers across Canada has reached a three-year deal with Suncor. The collective agreement will set the pattern for Unifor's upcoming negotiations at other companies in the industry.

View Oppose Energy East Pipeline videos here: https://youtu.be/ZfCWlTBLDJE?list=PLhiXBRrj94Pf5yUldnUU76rT0NGoFwuTL

If it's ever built, a $22 billion oil refinery in Kitimat would be Canada's largest

July 27, 2016 -  Share:B.C. newspaper owner David Black thinks Canada should be refining its oil, not shipping it offshore.

Will the federal Liberal government put up a $10 billion loan guarantee for David Black’s proposed $22 billion low-carbon refinery in Kitimat?

That is just one of the financing issues the B.C. newspaper magnate needs to resolve if he is to succeed in building what he says would be Canada’s biggest – and the world’s cleanest – oil refinery.

July 19, 2016 - Tradespeople at Cenovus Energy Inc.’s two major oil sands projects are trying to unionize and its top executives are fighting back, arguing that a collective agreement would not shield workers from layoffs as the economy slumps, according to an internal company memo.

Unifor, which says it is Canada’s largest private-sector union, is in talks with employees at Cenovus’s Christina Lake and Foster Creek projects. The company rolled out a multifaceted response to the campaign in June, urging employees to reject the pitch.

July 14, 2016 - TransCanada Corp. joined hands with construction unions on Thursday to demonstrate support for its Energy East pipeline project, which goes to public hearings next month.

At a ceremony in a union training facility in Ottawa, TransCanada chief executive officer Russ Girling signed an agreement with four unions committing to employ their members in the $15.7-billion project – assuming that it receives federal approval two years from now.

[One webpage editor's note: Three items below - Tzeporah Berman's new position in Alberta, 'astroturfing'  by some US unions, and the promoters of a bitumen refinery who include the then-President of  the paperworkers union I was a member of for years.]

The surprising composition of Alberta’s new oilsands GHG advisory group

by JNW staff, jwenergy.com, July 14, 2016

Canada's oil sands production will grow by 1 million barrels daily in the next decade above the current output of about 2.75 million barrels, driven mostly by the expansion of existing facilities rather than new projects, a new reports shows.

According to global consulting firm IHS Energy, the roughly 42% production increase will help Canada remain among the world’s largest oil suppliers.