Alberta heeds wake-up call 12/27/2009
Province's premier agrees royalty changes are needed to counter the potential loss of C$4 billion from shale gas 'game changer'
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has promised more changes to his government's unpopular royalty framework, which has been tinkered with over the past two years amid a rapid erosion of upstream investment....

ExxonMobil buys XTO Energy for $31 billion 12/20/2009
XTO has two platforms in Cook Inlet, which will make Exxon a producer in Alaska; main focus of purchase XTO's natural gas assets
ExxonMobil will buy XTO Energy Inc. in an all-stock deal worth $31 billion as the oil giant moved aggressively Dec. 14 to capitalize on the growing supply of natural gas at home. The deal could signal...

On the one hand, on... 12/20/2009
Husky, Nexen on opposite sides of cap-ex fence in Canada as analysts count on largest companies sticking close to '09 spending
As Canada's leading upstream companies start to unveil their 2010 capital spending programs, some appear more inclined to bide their time than others. Analysts doubt the budgets of major players will...

Exxon seeks new life 12/20/2009
Bets heavily on unconventional gas as fuel of choice by 2030 in takeover of XTO
The tipoff was there for anyone caring to pay attention when ExxonMobil declared on Dec. 8 that natural gas would be the fuel of choice in the United States by 2030, shunting aside coal and oil. Less...

Arctic future at risk; Imperial wants NEB to expedite ruling 12/13/2009
Imperial Oil and its sister company ExxonMobil Canada can't buy a break from Canadian regulators as they mull their future plans for the Arctic. And Imperial has vented its frustrations in a letter to...

Shale gas: Mirage or miracle? 11/29/2009
Euphoria over NA shale runs gauntlet of doubt; consultant - forecasts excessive
It's a roll of the dice with few parallels in the lifetime of North America's petroleum industry. In British Columbia alone, companies have plunked down billions of dollars to lock up exploration righ...

Rising from Canada's upstream EandP ashes 11/01/2009
2009 drilling heads for 17-year low; regulators see some turnaround in permit applications; CAPP expects modest upturn in spending
Amid the wreckage there are a few pieces of hope in Canada's upstream, mostly pointing to a partial recovery in 2010. With drilling currently headed for its lowest point in 17 years, regulators have s...

Letting the good times roll 10/18/2009
Gains in drilling, completion technology improve economics of B.C.'s Horn River, Montney plays; province hopes for strong winter
The revving up of activity in British Columbia Horn River and Montney-Doig gas formations, which the provincial government is hoping will result in a benchmark winter drilling season, has seized the a...

Mining News: Minerals gain momentum as season wanes 09/27/2009
Average rate of gold investment around the world nearly doubles in past eight years as demand for metals increases exponentially
Although Alaska's summer field season is quickly coming to an end, the mineral industry continues to gain momentum thanks to rapidly increasing metals prices, fueled in part by growing industrial dema...

Mining News: Alaska explorers hit potential pay dirt 08/30/2009
Miners report encouraging exploration results in their search for a range of commodities, from the expected to the unpronounceable
They say when it rains, it pours, and that is just what is happening with news from field programs all over Alaska. Results from summer 2009 programs are pouring in from the Brooks Range to Prince of...

Our Arctic Neighbors: Scientists reveal secrets of Novaya Zemlya 08/09/2009
Russian Arctic archipelago is closed to the outside world but an expedition in 1921 brought back samples that hint at hydrocarbons
Oil companies may now study geological material from the Russian Arctic archipelago Novaya Zemlya, which is inaccessible because of nuclear pollution and military security. The material was collected...

Slowdown's silver lining 07/26/2009
Outlook bullish for diversified oil sands' players, Moody's report concludes
What might have been the worst of times is turning into more of a blessing as the economic downturn steers the Alberta oil sands towards reduced front-end costs and benefits those with a diverse asset...

Using an auto industry cure 06/14/2009
The answer for what ails the North American natural gas sector may lie in the automotive industry's playbook, a Calgary analyst has suggested. Bill Gwozd, Ziff Energy Group's vice president of gas se...

Mining News: Miner eyes Yukon, northern B.C. projects 05/31/2009
Despite tough times, Copper Ridge Exploration clings to decade-long dream of beating the odds to generate a major metal discovery
If it were entirely up to Copper Ridge Explorations Inc., the project generator would explore most of its mineral properties in Yukon Territory, northern British Columbia and Alaska this summer. But t...

Rallying to oil sands 05/24/2009
French, Norwegian firms make a case for expanding their presence in Alberta
From big and small, from domestic and international stages, there is a steady, rebuilding drumbeat of support for the Canadian oil sands, motivated largely by a belief that cheap oil is disappearing. ...

Oil Patch Insider 04/19/2009
Hi-ho, hi-ho it's off to work we go ...; reigning in the Stampede
Most jobs are good jobs in these economic times, except at Devon Energy, where it seems most jobs are great. The big independent - with 5,500 worldwide employees, the bulk of them in North America - h...

All for one, one for all 04/05/2009
B.C. government, consortium of 11 producers embark on joint effort to bring Horn River shale basin to commercial development
In with a bang, out with a whimper, but the end result was cause for celebration when British Columbia wrapped up government land sales for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which ended March 31. A modest C$1...

It's all about us 02/15/2009
Canada looks for roadmap on economy, energy, environment at Obama-Harper summit; anxious to play ball, urged to diversify markets
A five-hour tete-a-tete at some yet-to-be-named location in Ottawa doesn't sound very imposing for Barack Obama's first presidential trip outside the United States on Feb. 19. But these aren't the ti...

Treasure in the trough 02/15/2009
TransCanada hikes dividend; major shippers want Keystone line to Gulf Coast
TransCanada has hiked its annual dividend for the ninth year in a row - a matter of considerable pride to the Canadian pipeline giant in these grim times - but that's not all it has to smile about. It...

Alaska producers reject new SEC rule 01/18/2009
Some of the world's largest oil companies, including Alaska Big Three producers ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP, are unlikely to participate in a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule tha...

Remember the good old days 01/04/2009
Canada's upstream players reel from 4th-quarter downturn, with capital spending forecast by Barclays Capital to drop 23% in 2009
Painful as it is to be reminded, financial results for the third quarter of Canada's upstream oil and gas sector have just been tallied. Even without knowing the numbers for the final quarter, the mel...

Intriguing possibilities in the Chukchi 11/23/2008
Sherwood reviews the geologic features that have attracted oil and gas leasing on the continental shelf west of the North Slope
When the U.S. Minerals Management Service held its Chukchi Sea lease sale in February, the agency collected about $2.6 billion in high bids on some 488 tracts. In fact, together with the two other Chu...

Fortress under siege 11/09/2008
Alberta drilling budgets, well completions, upstream outlook all in decline; exploration drilling off 25%, development 5.5%
The evidence keeps pointing to an erosion of the Canadian petroleum industry's stronghold in Alberta, where drilling budgets, well completions and the upstream outlook are all in decline. For the firs...

Mining News: Junior chases B.C. zinc-lead-silver deposits 10/26/2008
Canada Zinc Metals completes 2008 exploration on, near Akie property in northeast area of province, expands Cardiac Creek deposit
Canada Zinc Metals Corp. Oct. 8 said the first assay results of its 2008 drill program has significantly expanded the zinc-lead-silver bearing Cardiac Creek deposit on the Akie property in northeaste...

Gulf production struggles in hurricane aftermath 10/12/2008
MMS reports 54 platforms destroyed, 35 extensively damaged, 60 moderately damaged; some pipeline systems also crippled
U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production has been slow to recover from back-to-back hurricanes Ike and Gustav, which swept through the region more than a month ago. Meanwhile, offshore platform and...