|
Oil Patch Insider Suncor Energy goes top shelf for advice; Wilco amphibious excavator makes Alaska debut
If you want to engage in a multi-million dollar war with government, it makes sense to enlist the best troops.
Oil sands giant Suncor Energy has figured that one out.
While launching a C$250 million lawsuit against the Alberta government, it has hired one of Premier Ralph Klein’s closest allies to put pressure on the province.
Peter Elzinga is a former federal Member of Parliament, Klein’s former chief of staff and is currently co-chair of the ruling Conservative party’s campaign for re-election in a vote expected on Nov. 22 or 29.
Elzinga started a two-year contract in July as a consultant to Suncor, specializing in provincial government relations.
Kevin Taft, leader of the opposition Liberal party, said he was “extremely uncomfortable with senior government officials like Peter Elzinga being able to step out of their government office ... and sell out their knowledge and contacts to the highest bidder.”
He said the hiring of a political insider reflected the government’s culture of “cronyism,” describing Elzinga as the “ultimate insider cashing in on his good connections. It’s bad politics. It’s got to come to an end.”
Democracy Watch, an Ottawa-based advocacy group, said Alberta should have a lobbyist registry and a cooling-off period for senior government officials after they leave office.
Klein was largely unmoved by the criticism, arguing he had no control over what Elzinga “does in the private sector.”
But, depending on how many letters and phone calls he gets, Klein said Elzinga could be removed from the election campaign post.
For Suncor, and the entire oil sands sector, the outcome of the lawsuit is critical to the future of the sector.
Because the province views the Firebag addition to Suncor’s existing oil sands operation as a stand-alone project, not merely an extension, the Calgary-based company expects its royalty bill will climb by C$30 million this year.
As an extension, Firebag would pay a mining 1 percent royalty, instead of 25 percent as a separate project.
Suncor filed its lawsuit in July, claiming C$250 million for “misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty” by the province, or a reversal of the royalty ruling.
A Suncor spokesman said Elzinga’s advice on the dispute will be sought, but insisted he was hired primarily to spruce up the company’s relationship with the province.
Stoking the election fires, Klein is also taking some heat for his apparent eagerness to name current Energy Minister Murray Smith to head up an Alberta office in Washington, D.C.
The word is out that no one else has, or need apply for the post, which will pay C$450,000 in salary, benefits and a living allowance.
Smith has unabashedly painted himself as the obvious choice because of his close ties with Vice President Dick Cheney and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Amphibious excavator makes Alaska debut Cook Inlet Pipe Line has acquired what is likely Alaska’s first amphibious excavator — a machine that can float, propel itself through water and move through marshy terrain with a fraction of the ground pressure of a normal machine of its size.
Manufactured by Wilco Marsh Buggies in Harvey and Lafayette, La., the excavator was purchased by Cook Inlet Pipe Line of Anchorage for use at Unocal’s Drift River Terminal operation.
Jim Shew, manager for Cook Inlet Pipe Line, said his firm hopes the amphibious crane will convince regulatory agencies to extend the work season in environmentally sensitive areas of the Cook Inlet basin.
“The amphibious excavator will allow us to work in the marsh areas without doing environmental damage because it’s able to ride up on top of the root mass,” Shew told Petroleum News Sept. 15. “We think it will be less stressful on sensitive terrain than even matting. … It has about one-quarter of the ground pressure of a regular excavator’s pressure, and it will float if it happens to fall through the ice on a pond, lake or river.”
A large segment of Cook Inlet Pipe Line’s pipeline “from Drift River to Granite Point is in a marshy, muskeg environment. We’re hoping this machine will give us an opportunity to work a little longer season if we have to do repairs or inspections on the line,” he said.
And the amphibious excavator might allow the company to forego building ice roads and ice bridges across waterways.
“In a lot of areas we can only have physical access to the pipeline in January, February and March because we have to have snow cover and the rivers have to be frozen over so we can build ice roads to our right of way. This machine should be able to travel on top of the snow cover without breaking through. … It should float instead of sink.”
Fully assembled the excavator is 18 feet wide.
According to Anchorage-based CN AquaTrain agent Laurie Gray, whose firm was involved in moving the excavator from Baton Rouge to Anchorage, the unit’s next move will be from Anchorage to the Drift River terminal via barge.
Well known lawyer, Lobbyist to speak at The Alliance annual meeting This year’s featured speaker at The Alaska Support Industry Alliance’s annual meeting on Sept. 23 will be Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., founding partner of Patton Boggs law firm and a well-known lawyer-lobbyist on Capitol Hill.
The organization will hold its 25th annual meeting at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel, starting at 6 p.m. with a reception and voting for three new board members. Dinner, a business meeting, Bogg’s speech and an anniversary toast follow from 7-9 p.m. The Alliance is a statewide non-profit trade association representing more than 350 businesses, organizations and individuals who provide products and services in support of Alaska’s oil and gas industry.
As a celebration of 25 years of service to the industry, The Alliance will also release a book capturing the historical mile markers since its inception in 1979.
For more information or to register, call The Alliance at 907 563-2226. Kevin Hand appointed executive director of Arctic Power Arctic Power said Sept. 8 that Kevin Hand has been appointed executive director of the Anchorage-based non-profit association.
Founded in 1992, Arctic Power’s mission is to “advocate and educate policy makers and the public on the need for development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for responsible oil and gas development.”
Under the Hand’s leadership, Arctic Power said it will “re-energize Alaskans in the fight for congressional approval to open the coastal plain to development. This advocacy will help ensure that ANWR remains a focal issue during the election season and provide the necessary momentum heading into the next congressional session.”
| 