Author: Editor Northwest Coast Energy News

U.S. ambassador to Canada: Reduce oilsands’ environmental impact: Calgary Herald

Calgary Herald


U.S. ambassador to Canada: Reduce oilsands’ environmental impact

Alberta will continue to feed America’s energy needs but must work to clean up resource extraction operations, David Jacobson, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, said Tuesday…..

However, additional improvements in the environmental performance of oilsands extraction operations are “necessary,” he said.

“We’re aware of the progress that has been made to address some of the environmental impacts in the Alberta oilsands. . . . But as I’ve said on many occasions in the past, additional improvements are necessary.”

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers took a more positive spin on Jacobson’s speech in this tweet.

@OilGasCanada US ambassador sees Canada as a pillar “safest and most secure foreign supplier” http://goo.gl/HgB24 #KeystoneXL #tarsands #oilsands

TransCanada’s new pipeline project worries U.S. agency: Calgary Herald

Calgary Herald

 TransCanada’s new pipeline project worries U.S. agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has expressed new fears about the safety of Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL oilsands pipeline, warning decision makers in the Obama administration to “carefully consider” whether the project’s proposed route through ecologically sensitive areas in the U.S. Great Plains is appropriate.

 In a letter to the State Department, the EPA said two recent leaks that shut down the existing Keystone pipeline highlight the need to require the Canadian company to take more rigorous steps to limit the threat of a major spill on the new line.

TransCanada restarting Keystone oil pipeline: Reuters

Reuters 

TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) was restoring operations on Sunday along the Keystone crude oil pipeline, one week after it was shut by a leak at a Kansas pumping station, a company spokesman said.

“We are in the process of restarting Keystone but I can’t give you a firm time line (on shipments) – likely imminent,” said TransCanada spokesman James Millar in statement.

The 591,000 barrel-per-day pipeline brings oil from Hardisty, Alberta to the Cushing, Oklahoma, oil hub.

TransCanada News Release



CALGARY, Alberta – May 13, 2011 – TransCanada Corporation (TSX, NYSE: TRP) (TransCanada) today announced it has re-started its Keystone Pipeline system. The line has been closed since May 7 following an above-ground incident at a pump station in Sargent County, North Dakota. 

More than 30 workers and their equipment have been on site at the Ludden Pump Station. Three hundred and ninety three barrels of oil have been recovered out of an estimated 500 barrels. Three hundred cubic yards of contaminated soil will be removed to an approved location and replaced with clean soil and gravel. The majority of the clean-up should be finished by the weekend.

 “TransCanada has taken this incident very seriously. We have fully communicated details regarding the incident and our corrective actions to our U.S. regulator PHMSA in ensuring the steps we have taken will enable us to safely re-start the pipeline,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada president and chief executive officer. “We reacted quickly, shutting down the line within a few minutes of detecting a drop in pressure, demonstrating our safety systems work effectively.”

Environmentalists pin hope on Obama opposition to pipeline project: Globe and Mail

Globe and Mail  

TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline has become a litmus test in the U.S. battle over energy policy, as the environmental movement looks for reassurance that President Barack Obama is committed to combatting climate change.

 Prodded by congressional Republicans for a quick decision, the U.S. State Department concludes a comment period on Monday for its draft environmental impact statement on the XL project. 

 The final version – to be issued this summer – will likely conclude that the environmental concerns should not derail the project, despite troublesome leaks from the existing Keystone pipeline, which was shut last week after a small leak in Kansas.

US allows restart of Keystone pipeline: Reports

There are media reports that the United States Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration is permitting the restart of the Keystone pipeline after earlier saying it could not be restarted following a spill on May 29.

 

The Wall Street Journal reports

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Saturday approved TransCanada Corp.’s plan to restart its Keystone pipeline…. TransCanada on Saturday provided results of its testing along the Keystone and can restart it as soon as the morning of July 5, the PHMSA said in a letter to the company.

“Based on a review of the information submitted, the restart plan is approved,” PHMSA Central Region Director David Barrett said in the letter.

Reuters reports that pipeline could start as early as Sunday:

 

TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) can restart its Keystone oil pipeline on Sunday, after the company satisfied a series of safety conditions following leaks that idled the key export line twice in less than a month, the U.S. pipeline safety regulator said on Saturday. 

 The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said it approved resumption of crude flows from Canada on the pipeline after the agency evaluated the company’s restart plan and was satisfied safety requirements were met.

As of this posting there is no confirming information on the PHMSA or TransCanada websites.

US orders Keystone pipeline shut down after leaks: Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail 

U.S. regulators have barred TransCanada Corp. from restarting its Keystone pipeline until the company can provide more proof that the system is safe, after several leaks in just a year of operation….. 

 Following at least three Keystone leaks in May, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration took sudden action Friday. It issued a corrective action order that mandates 14 steps TransCanada must take before resuming operations, including demands for information, mechanical and metallurgical testing and a report on all issues and incidents on the line…. 

 For Canada’s oil and gas industry, the Keystone outage is just the latest in a series of pipeline-related headaches. A major Michigan spill on an Enbridge Inc. pipeline last summer resulted in rolling outages that lasted until this spring, as the company worked to fix problems on the line

Document
US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration order to shut down the Keystone pipeline (PDF)

NEB defends decision to withhold concerns about Enbridge pipeline: PostMedia

PostMedia News 

Canada’s federal energy regulator is defending its decision to keep Canadians in the dark about safety concerns with two major oil and gas pipelines. The concerns prompted the regulator to order pressure reductions on both lines last October, which are still in effect today. 

 The National Energy Board intervened in the operations of the two pipelines, owned by Enbridge and Trans-Northern, that travel through Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and other regions in Western Canada. This came after a major rupture in Michigan involving another pipeline owned by Enbridge, which resulted in more than three million litres of crude oil leaking into the state’s Kalamazoo River. 

 [Board spokeswoman Stacey Squires] distanced herself from comments made one day earlier by her colleague, spokeswoman Carole Leger-Kubeczek, who had said the board was “not equipped” to post safety decisions “in terms of resources.” Squires said it was not a question of resources, but that it would be “very labour-intensive and require a lot of time” to provide all the information, including audits and inspections, regarding a company.

Keystone XL pipeline would accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil: report: PostMedia News

PostMedia News

A controversial $13-billion pipeline project originating in Hardisty, Alta., will accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil, says a newly-released report from Natural Resources Canada.

 “The Keystone XL project is seen as both furthering U.S. dependence on oil, and enabling more oilsands crude to enter the U.S. market,” said the document, released through access to information legislation… 

 “Although the Keystone XL pipeline was certificated in Canada in late April 2010, the company continues to wait for approvals in the U.S. before it can begin construction,” said the report, obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin. “This . . . has been caused by U.S. opposition to imports of ‘dirty’ Canadian crude oil from the ‘tar sands….'” 

 The Natural Resources Canada report, entitled “Current Pipeline Issues,” was finalized on Oct. 22, 2010, and listed senior bureaucrats… from the oil and gas policy and regulatory division of the department as its key contacts.

Three pipeline builders race to reach new markets Keystone, TMX and Gateway: Alberta Oil

Alberta Oil 

Pipelines have never been so popular. For years, the steel conduits followed unseen routes. They carried rivers of crude oil beneath city and town alike, rarely drawing so much as a passing thought from those who depended on their valuable cargo. Today, proposals by Kinder Morgan Canada, Enbridge Inc. and TransCanada Corp. face fierce opposition in a bid to carry more Canadian crude oil – chiefly increased oil sands production – to new markets.

Excerpt from Alberta Oil interview with Nlorthern Gateway President John Carruthers

 

The primary markets where we would see the most value are China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Now once the oil reaches tidewater it can access any market. We would see crude going periodically to different markets. But those four markets in particular have strong demand. The proximity of Canada to those markets and the fact that they can process Canadian crude is all very positive. Potentially the oil could also go to California.

Enbridge refines sales pitch: Terrace Standard

Terrace Standard 

Enbridge officials are sharpening their sales pitch for the company’s planned Northern Gateway oil pipeline project, saying it will bring jobs, provide an economic boost and help wean the country from an overdependence on the United States of America. 

 Andrew Popko, one of three Enbridge officials on a tour of the area last week, said Canada deserved to get world prices for its products.

“Our most valuable asset is oil from northern Alberta,” he said.