An Alberta oilfield worker has become an unofficial spokesperson for Canada’s beleaguered oil and national gas industry, after the roughneck made an impassioned plea to federal politicians on Parliament Hill on September 20th.
Dressed in a red hard hat and greased work overalls Bernard Hancock was in Ottawa last week with the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors for the presentation to the House of Commons of an e-petition signed by more than 34,000 Canadians. The can be read story by going to: www.ctvnews.ca/business/roughneck-calls-on-feds-to-champion-hard-hit-oil-industry-1.3088761
Enbridge Inc. of Calgary plans to buy Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp. for stock worth $37 billion. The combination of the two pipeline companies would create a North American energy infrastructure giant. The combined company’s natural gas pipelines business would be based in Houston, and the liquids pipelines business would be based in Edmonton. The complete story can be read at: www.cbc.ca/news/business/enbridge-spectra-merger-deal-1.3749340
The OPI has received intervenor status for the National Energy Board’s hearing on the TransCanada Pipelines application for the conversion and extension of their Energy Eat Pipeline from natural gas to oil for transport from Alberta. Trans-Canada Pipeline’s application calls for a 4,500-kilometre pipeline to carry 1.1-million barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in Eastern Canada most notably to the Irving Refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick. The pipeline will, potentially, have a direct effect on Ontario production by opening up an alternative market for producers.
Further, in its application to intervene the OPI stated that the Energy East Pipeline Project will ensure that oil produced in Canada is available for the economic benefit of all Canadians, reduces the need for importing oil and provides market access for the sale of oil to the world market. The Energy East Pipeline route can be viewed at: Energy East Piepline Route
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has distanced herself from a leaked draft plan to wean the province off natural gas.
Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail reported on a $7-billion Ontario government climate change strategy to dramatically cut the province’s carbon footprint. According to the report, all homes and small buildings built in 2030 or later to be heated without using fossil fuels, such as natural gas.
The Premier promises natural gas won’t be banned. In Edmonton recently Ms. Wynne spoke to the controversy about that aspect of the yet-to-be-released climate-change strategy. “Let me be clear,” she said. “We are not banning natural gas and have no intention to force people off natural gas.”
The complete story can be read at
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/wynne-steps-back-from-plan-to-phase-out-natural-gas-in-ontario/article30182423/
The Ontario oil and natural gas industry in Southwestern Ontario heard directly from its regulator at the 2016 OPI Conference and Trade Show – Discover the Future. Bill Thornton, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, was the keynote speaker at a Conference luncheon on May 5th. In his remarks Mr. Thornton commented on the industry’s impact in the province, “Here in Southwestern Ontario the oil and natural gas industry has always been a significant part of the local economy and an important contributor to the quality of life in this area”, he said. The speech can be read in its entirety by clicking on the following link:
At the 2016 OPI Conference and Trade Show – Discover the Future the Ontario oil and natural gas industry was told that the Government of Ontario wants to bring the sector fully into the mainstream of energy thinking in the 21st century. The comment came in the speech given by Bob Delaney, Parliamentary Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Energy to officially open the 54th Annual OPI Conference.
The Toronto Star published a feature article “Oil booming just down Hwy. 401”on Fairbank Oil Properties in the paper’s Business Section on March 9th. The Star ran the feature from a story on the Ontario industry written by Bloomberg News. The Toronto Star can be read by going to the following link.
www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20160310/282449938124143
In its continuing effort to promote the Ontario oil and natural gas industry the OPI attended the North American Prospect Expo in Denver, Colorado held December 9-10, 2015 to encourage companies to look at Southwestern Ontario as a profitable E&P opportunity.
In recent months there has been considerable attention given to the subject of climate change. Much of it driven by the recent Paris Climate Conference as well the Government of Ontario’s plan to implement a Cap-and –Trade program in the province. In the climate change debate, and the climate has changed constantly since the dawn of time, criticism is often directed at oil and natural gas producers as the culprits contributing to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. An article written by the former CEO of Encana – Blame fossil fuel users – not producers – suggests the criticism is misdirected. The article can be read by going to the following link:
