An oil sands pipeline rupture that has coated a large swath of muskeg south of Fort McMurray with bitumen, sand and salty water may have gone undetected by an automated monitoring system for more than two weeks, Nexen executives say.
The exact time and cause of the massive spill is still under investigation. The leak was discovered on July 15 by a worker at the Long Lake oil sands project. On Wednesday, Chinese-owned Nexen Energy ULC revealed the leak may have started as long ago as June 29. The company’s computerized monitoring system failed to detect the breach.
On July 15th 2015, officers of the Canadian Royal Mounted Police (RCMP) tried to enter Unist’ot’en territory. The Unist’ot’en have built a camp that stands in the way of several oil and gas pipelines. Camp supporters blocked the rcmp from entering.
The following day the RCMP threatened to arrest supporters at another checkpoint, but supporters responded by building a gate. The Unist’ot’en have requested physical support from allies. For more info on how you can help visit UnistotenCamp.com.
An oil spill in evergreen forest of northern Alberta has ratcheted up concerns over pipeline safety as Canada’s premiers seek consensus on plans to pipe oil-sands crude to eastern ports in massive volumes.
Chinese-owned Nexen Energy ULC late on Thursday said a pipeline ruptured at its Long Lake oil-sands project, spewing about 31,500 barrels of bitumen, produced water and sand across a 16,000-square-metre area roughly 36 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray. Nexen is owned by state-run CNOOC Ltd.
ST. JOHN’S—After a “vigorous” debate, the nation’s premiers have finalized a Canadian Energy Strategy that tries to balance tackling climate change with safely getting fossil fuels to market.
“It’s a huge step forward,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told the Star in an interview here Friday at the Council of the Federation meeting.
Her comments came after the 13 provincial and territorial leaders unveiled the 35-page strategy that mentions “greenhouse gas” 24 times, “climate change” 20 times, “oil” 11 times, and “natural gas” and “pipelines” four times each.
Inside the earthquake surge at the epicentre of Canada’s fracking boom With dirty pickup trucks in nearly every driveway, advertisements for energy service companies hanging at the local baseball diamond and work camps scattered nearby, Fox Creek cannot hide the fact it is a one-industry town.
One of the largest leaks in Alberta history has spilled about five million litres of emulsion from a Nexen Energy pipeline at the company's Long Lake oilsands facility south of Fort McMurray.
The leak was discovered Wednesday afternoon.
Nexen said in a statement its emergency response plan has been activated and personnel were onsite. The leak has been stabilized, the company said.
The spill covered an area of about 16,000 square metres, mostly within the pipeline corridor, the company said. Emulsion is a mixture of bitumen, water and sand.
As Alberta's energy companies struggle through a prolonged bout of low prices, more and more are walking away from their oil and gas wells, leaving a little-known industry group to clean up the mess.
Alberta's Orphan Well Association is now responsible for 704 wells, up from 164 last year, according to Pat Payne, the association's manager.
Canada’s premiers are poised to sign an agreement to fast-track new oil sands pipelines while watering down commitments to fight climate change.
The Canadian Energy Strategy will be finalized and unveiled at a premiers’ conference in St. John’s beginning Wednesday. But The Globe and Mail has obtained a draft of the plan that reveals the key points and stumbling blocks.
The confidential 37-page document lays out 10 goals and dozens of action items as part of a sweeping vision for the future of oil, gas and electricity across the country.
