Mackenzie project gets hearing dates 01/17/2010
The Mackenzie Gas Project has been given its roadmap for the final regulatory phases. Canada's National Energy Board said it will start hearing concluding arguments April 12 in Yellowknife and wrap up...

Ho-ho-hold the holidays 01/10/2010
Proponents of Mackenzie gas have tight deadline to respond to 679-page report
It landed Dec. 30 with a thud on desks in the high-rise petroleum towers of downtown Calgary, spoiling whatever hopes employees working on the Mackenzie Gas Project might have had to put their feet up...

Imperial's plans put at risk 01/03/2010
NEB won't issue advance ruling on same season relief well in Beaufort
Turned down by Canada's federal energy regulator in its efforts to gain an advance ruling on its plans for an exploration well in the Canadian section of the Beaufort Sea, Imperial Oil is now taking t...

Mackenzie Gas Project report on its way 12/20/2009
Backers of the Mackenzie Gas Project have a date - Dec. 31. That's when the Joint Review Panel is expected to meet its promised deadline and deliver its findings on environmental and socioeconomic iss...

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...

'Possible ... probably not likely' 12/06/2009
EnCana chairman, execs play down takeover risks as Canadian independent goes its separate ways; argue share value best protection
A few voices of dissent were effectively stifled and an overwhelming 99 percent-plus of shareholders set the oil and natural gas parts of EnCana on separate directions, with executives playing down an...

Wrestling with the risks in Alberta 11/15/2009
Smaller oil sands players pinned by startup woes, inability to finance holdings; Suncor not ruling out building on industry-leading position
Some either want out or want a reduced presence; some are struggling to keep their heads above water; some are now paying the price for the rush to complete projects during a frenzied boom that ended...

It's big and it's 'real' 11/15/2009
Canadian study points to 5.3 million barrels per day from oil sands by 2043
The Canadian Energy Research Institute figures that a "realistic" target for oil sands production by 2043 is 5.3 million barrels per day, almost a five-fold increase over the next 34 years, hitting 1....

Alberta oil sands leases change hands 11/08/2009
Oil sands startup UTS Energy has sold a 50 percent working interest in three leases to Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil for C$250 million to keep alive its hopes of retaining a 20 percent stake in the Fort...

Eying ConocoPhillips' Syncrude stake 11/08/2009
The hottest guessing game in Canada's oil patch these days is who will emerge as frontrunner if ConocoPhillips delivers on a strong hint that it is ready to unload a 9.03 percent stake in Syncrude Can...

Mac partners battle on 11/08/2009
Positive remarks counter October gloom based on fiscal rejection speculation
The smallest interest partner in the Mackenzie Gas Project has suddenly become its biggest booster at a time when hopes are waning. ExxonMobil, whose wholly owned Canadian unit has a 5.2 percent stake...

Oil sands tries to move past ducks 11/01/2009
It's an issue the Alberta oil sands sector just can't duck, but the industry is doing whatever it can to put distance between itself and 1,606 dead ducks at the Syncrude Canada operations last year. T...

Caught in political web 11/01/2009
Canadian cabinet committee reported to have turned down fiscal package
Backers of the Mackenzie Gas Project now seem to be getting dragged deeper into a Canadian government quagmire. Political insiders have told Petroleum News there could be growing differences over the...

No quick carbon fixes 10/25/2009
Oil sands leader argues 'absolute' limits on oil sands' GHG would burden sector; Imperial boss says answers could take 100 years
Two leading players in the Alberta oil sands - the flashpoint of Canada's climate-change wrangling - have answered criticism that the sector is not doing enough to explain itself. In the process, the...

B.C. lifts lid on new gas play 10/25/2009
Government discloses 'sleeping dog' in Liard basin, west of Horn River, Montney plays; operators tight-lipped about plans, results
It's in a hush-hush mode right now, but EandP companies in British Columbia could be quietly extending the province's gas hot spot beyond the Montney and Horn River formations. One of the first public h...

Mackenzie Gas Project mood on upswing on all sides 10/25/2009
The key Canadian government and Imperial Oil leaders in the Mackenzie Gas Project are not even close to giving up on the scheme. Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Oct. 14 the chances of a natural...

Alberta oil sands projects meet deadline 10/11/2009
All operators have submitted tailings pond plans to the Energy Resources Conservation Board; fine particles must be reduced
All six Alberta oil sands tailings pond operators have submitted their plans to the Energy Resources Conservation Board, meeting a Sept. 30 deadline. In an Oct. 1 press release ERCB said the deadline...

Final arguments on Mackenzie gas pipeline set for April 10/11/2009
Canada's National Energy Board said Oct. 7 that it expects to hear final arguments on the proposed C$16 billion Mackenzie pipeline in April, concluding a process that began in 2006, following the 2004...

MGM kills Arctic gas drilling program 09/20/2009
Area's only recent explorer blames Mackenzie line delay; might shoot seismic this winter in central Mackenzie Valley, oil the target
On May 5, MGM Energy said it was, at best, paring down its natural gas exploration program in Canada's Northwest Territories or, at worst, canceling it altogether. On Sept. 14, the Calgary junior said...

Decade older; what have we got? 09/20/2009
Mackenzie Gas Project faces being overtaken by Alaska line, shale gas; Ziff Energy analyst - pipeline dead without government money
In more than a decade since visionaries unveiled the second serious attempt in 30 years to develop Canada's Arctic natural gas resources - call it Mackenzie Mark II - time has been wasted; costs have...

Carbon capture: Silver bullet or blank? 08/23/2009
Alberta government report estimates up to C$3 billion in public money might be needed each year to develop CSS technology
The debate is just warming up in Canada over the use of carbon capture and storage, widely touted as a climate-change strategy and the answer to Canada's reputation as a source of "dirty oil" from the...

Natural gas shale trail has minor bumps 08/09/2009
TransCanada discloses one-year delay in Horn River startup; producers press ahead as costs fall and expertise boosts well yields
A growing industry consensus that weakened natural gas prices will stretch well into 2010 and some moves by producers to shut-in production in the face of record North American storage levels are putt...

Hints of big Horn River strike 07/19/2009
A partnership of parent company and offspring, ExxonMobil and Imperial Oil, is playing it coy on results from its exploration debut in British Columbia's Horn River shale gas play, despite hints of so...

TAPS transitioning to low flow future 07/19/2009
Strategic reconfiguration of the trans-Alaska pipeline moves ahead, while engineers assess the challenges of declining flow rates
At the end of May, the switchover to new electric pumps at pump station 4 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline marked the latest major step in the upgrade of the pipeline system to accommodate declining r...