NEWS BULLETIN

September 06, 2001 --- Vol. 7, No. 111September 2001

Petro-Canada fears Native blockades could spread

Native blockades targeting the energy industry in northeastern British Columbia could spread into the Arctic and become a serious issue unless governments intervene, said Petro-Canada president Ron Brenneman.

"This can be a significant issue for the industry because it may just be the thin edge of the wedge," he said, in calling on the Canadian and British Columbia governments to take a more active role in seeking a resolution.

Petro-Canada became the first large producer to be blockaded three weeks ago. Since then Anadarko, Canadian Natural Resources and Westcoast Energy have been forced off Native land, effectively shutting down operations in British Columbia's prolific Ladyfern gas region.

But the federal government has refused to get involved, arguing the issues are provincial, while the British Columbia government has yet to open talks with the Native leaders.

"We're telling (the governments) to engage in dialogue with the First Nations groups, understand what their concerns are and try to reach some kind of resolution," Brenneman said.

He said the aboriginals are just trying to draw attention to a backlog of unresolved matters and do not intend to shut down the oil and gas industry.

Brenneman said the industry has sent a number of delegations to meet with new British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Energy Minister Richard Neufeld. "We're starting to get their attention now that this has become a problem they can't ignore," he said.

Two major pipelines, Westcoast and TransCanada PipeLines, have asked for federal help in resolving Native issues in the Northwest Territories where the Deh Cho First Nation has stalled planning for a pipeline through the Mackenzie Valley.

ANS August production up 2.7 percent from July

Alaska North Slope crude production averaged 975,365 barrels a day in August, up 2.7 percent from an average 949,685 bpd in July.

The biggest changes were at Prudhoe, up 6.6 percent from July to an average of 507,937 bpd in August, and at Alpine, down 9.5 percent due to three days of planned maintenance with zero production. Alpine averaged 87,951 bpd in August and hit a new single day production high of 102,511 bpd Aug. 16.

Lisburne production increased 2.6 percent, averaging 79,890 bpd in August. Endicott production averaged 34,306 bpd in August, up 1.7 percent from July and Kuparuk averaged 212,417 bpd in August, up 0.8 percent from July. Milne Point production dropped 1.3 percent, averaging 52,864 bpd in August while Prudhoe Bay natural gas liquids production averaged 42,832 bpd in August, up 6.8 percent from July. The August temperature at Pump Station No. 1 averaged 44.1 degrees F, down from an average of 50.1 degrees F in July.

Cook Inlet production was down 1 percent from July, averaging 34,787 bpd in August and total Alaska production averaged 1,010,152 bpd, up 2.6 percent.


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