Home » Posts tagged 'alberta' (Page 10)
Tag Archives: alberta
Alberta One Of Hardest Hit By Lower Oil Prices
Alberta One Of Hardest Hit By Lower Oil Prices
The week ending Jan. 17 was a bad one for Alberta, the Canadian province that once was enjoying an oil boom.
Schlumberger, the oil services giant in Canada’s west, cut spending dramatically, postponed projects in the region and announced 9,000 layoffs for its worldwide operations. Suncor Energy announced it will cut 1,000 jobs and reduce its budget by $1 billion, and uncertainty in oil markets will delay Canada’s federal budget until at least April. Even Target and Sony were closing stores in Canada.
The effect on the country’s financial sector also was profound. The Toronto Stock exchange plunged, and the Canadian dollar dropped to a six-year low against its US counterpart. As a result, Alberta’s premier, Jim Prentice, conceded that the plunge in oil prices will cut provincial revenues by $7 billion in 2015, meaning his government will be operating at a deficit.
In fact Glen Hodgson, the chief economist of the Conference Board of Canada, warned that Alberta may face a recession this year.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
2015: The Year We Turn Away from Tar Sands
2015: The Year We Turn Away from Tar Sands
In 2014 Naomi Klein popularized the term “blockadia” in her book This Changes Everythingusing the term as a sort of catch-all to describe the grassroots insurgency emerging across the globe in the face of extreme energy development. This past year also saw the continued desperate push by tar sands peddlers to build more pipelines, new mines and rush to dig up every last drop of tar sands crude. Thankfully, community opposition from the source to every coast (and even across the Atlantic in Europe, where protests met the arrival of the first shipment of tar sands to Europe) has risen up. As we leave 2014 and look forwards to 2015, here is a snapshot of the global movement to stop the tar sands.
The Source
Just a few short years ago the Northern Alberta tar sands were a little known unconventional oil reserve. Not anymore, thanks to the tireless efforts of activists & community leaders from Indigenous communities downstream of the tar sands. Projects like the Healing Walk, the final walk that happened this past June, have brought global awareness to one of the world’s largest and most dangerous pools of carbon.
This year saw three major tar sands projects shelved. Shell, Total and Stat-Oil all suspended projects that previously had been seen as “done deals” because of a lack of market access, financial uncertainty and rising opposition. With the falling price of oil, and the world waking up to the reality of the carbon bubble, this could be just the beginning for financial trouble in the tar sands. In 2015, new projects like Teck’s Frontier Mine – the largest open pit tar sands mine ever proposed – could become a litmus test for the future of new tar sands developments, and a turning point to stopping tar sands at the source.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Falling Oil Prices Could Rock Canada’s Politics: Expert | The Tyee
Falling Oil Prices Could Rock Canada’s Politics: Expert | The Tyee.
What do the plummeting oil prices tell us not only about our near term economic future in Canada, but the political fragility of the world’s petro states?
If Canada fully joins the petro state club, as our prime minister and his party desire, is oil’s volatility just the cost of doing business, or a threat to our nation’s well-being?
The ideal person to ask is Terry Lynn Karl, one of North America’s foremost experts on the politics of oil. The Tyee recently caught up with Karl, who teaches at Stanford University and lives in San Francisco.
Asked in a wide ranging interview what Canadians might expect if oil prices stay low for a few years, she predicted “a rapidly declining Canadian dollar, greater problems over pipelines, the reduction of future investments, and a very bumpy oil ride, especially for Alberta.
“Any adverse effect low oil prices will have on Canada’s high cost oil industry will have a multiplier effect on the economy and polity. Government services will be cut back, house sales will decline, and banking will slow down. Canadians will not be so happy with their government.”
Energy East Pipeline is Unsafe and Unwanted | Stéphane Brousseau
Energy East Pipeline is Unsafe and Unwanted | Stéphane Brousseau.
TransCanada’s strategy to hoister its Energy East pipeline on the Quebec public has been unmasked, and Quebecers don’t buy the company’s sales pitch.
Quebec citizens, not to mention citizens worldwide, have done their homework and based on the science, the facts and the statistics are keenly aware that the risks inherent in this proposed pipeline, a project endorsed by the federal government, are simply too great, and the required social acceptability for this project is not there, and never will be.
We know that to determine the risk level and viability of a project you can calculate the probability of an accident and the cost of decontamination. This can mean hundreds of billions of dollars in decontamination costs and costs in relation to persistent pollution impacts.
A good indicator in this case is TransCanada’s dismal track record for pipeline oil spills in terms of frequency, quantity and response time.
Alberta Pipeline Spills 60,000 Litres Of Crude Into Muskeg, Says Energy Regulator
Alberta Pipeline Spills 60,000 Litres Of Crude Into Muskeg, Says Energy Regulator.
RED EARTH CREEK, Alta. – The Alberta Energy Regulator says close to 60,000 litres of crude oil have spilled into muskeg in the province’s north.
An incident report by the regulator states that a mechanical failure was reported Thursday at a Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSX:CNQ) pipeline approximately 27 kilometres north of Red Earth Creek.
The report says there are no reports of impact to wildlife and that a cleanup has begun.
Red Earth Creek is over 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Carrie Rosa, a spokeswoman for the regulator, says officials have been delayed reaching the scene due to poor weather in the last few days.
No one from Canadian Natural Resources could be reached on Saturday for comment.
In April, a pipeline owned by the company spilled 70,000 litres of oil and processed water in the region.
The Alberta Energy Regulator said at the time that the spill northwest of Slave Lake was not near any people, water or wildlife.
Judge Rules Landowner May Sue Gov’t in Landmark Fracking Case | The Tyee
Judge Rules Landowner May Sue Gov’t in Landmark Fracking Case | The Tyee.
A landmark lawsuit that challenges the lax regulation of hydraulic fracturing in Canada has just scored a major victory.
In a lengthy decision, Alberta Chief Justice Neil Wittmann dismissed all key arguments made by the government of Alberta against the lawsuit of Jessica Ernst, including the fear that it may unleash a flood of lawsuits against a government that is heavily dependent on hydrocarbon revenue.
The Alberta government argued that Ernst’s $33-million lawsuit had no merit; that the government owed no duty of care to landowners with contaminated water; and that the government had statutory immunity.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
