Shell says it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ARC Resources Ltd, a Calgary based energy company focused on the Montney shale basin in British Columbia and Alberta. The deal is worth $22 billion Canadian, ($13.6 billion US in cash and shares) and includes taking over ARC’s debts. Financial analysts report that offer […]
The September issue of National Geographic includes a large map of British Columbia it calls "Claiming British Columbia." The map has three themes: First Nations' traditional territory, the routes of proposed pipeline projects, both LNG and diluted bitumen, and it features a sub map that looks at what the map calls the "Troubled Salmon" fishery. […]
Diluted bitumen, also known as dilbit, a mixture of oil sands bitumen and natural gas dilutants can seriously harm fish populations, according to research study at Queen’s University and the Royal Military College of Canada published this week. At toxic concentrations, effects of dilbit on exposed fish included deformities and clear signs of genetic and […]
District of Kitimat Council Monday endorsed, in a six to one vote, publisher David Black's proposal for a refinery at Onion Flats north of Kitimat. The motion, proposed by Councillor Mario Feldhoff was: That the District of Kitimat write a letter to the Prime Minister, copying the Premier of BC, endorsing Mr. David Black's […]
The federal government's main consultation with First Nations on the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel report is limited to just three simple questions that had to be answered within 45 days, according to documents seen by Northwest Coast Energy News. That despite the fact that the first volume of the JRP report “Connections” is 76 […]
Skeena Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says at least two of the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel’s 209 conditions may already be outdated. In a news release January 15, 2013, Cullen said, “The requirement of $950 million in spill insurance was recently called into question as reports surfaced of cleanup costs at the sites of […]
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Enbridge to dredge the Kalamazoo River to remove addition bitumen. The EPA issued this news release CHICAGO (March 14, 2013) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued an administrative order that requires Enbridge to do additional dredging in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River to clean up oil from […]
The United States Department draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) not only had to evaluate the main subject, the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, but possible alternatives as well. So that's why the EIS took a couple of looks at Kitimat, with two possibilities for replacing the Keystone XL with a Kitimat terminal. • Rail to […]
The US State Department report on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project also looks at the Kinder Morgan Transmountain pipeline (both the existing line and the proposed second line) and, in at least one part of the report, seems to speculate that, once expansion of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014, there could be […]
There have always been commentators who believe that if the Northern Gateway Pipeline is rejected by the Joint Review Panel or stopped by other means, that the bitumen from Alberta should be carried by rail to Prince Rupert. A pipeline to Prince Rupert has already been rejected by Enbridge as impractical given the mountainous terrain […]