2012 Archives
11-23-12
Access Important Industry Presentations and Videos of RDC's Annual Conference Last Week In Anchorage. * Edmonton Journal/CH, by Dave Cooper. Atco Pipelines announced Wednesday it is proposing to spend up to $700 million to replace 260 kilometres of high-pressure natural gas pipelines in Calgary and Edmonton, with the cost to homeowners spread over five years.
CEA President David Holt Describes Next Steps Consumer Group Anticipates for The Keystone XL Pipeline:
Cook Inlet Gas Supply: From Whence Does It Come? Utilities Work the Realities. Political Leaders Opine. (See your author's commentary here which involved his 2006 Dissents (1) and (2) that predict and describe the regulatory origin of current natural gas supply and deliverability challenges) -dh
energy in the near future was up for debate between the Anchorage mayor and the governor at the Resource Development Council’s annual conference.
11-21-12
Kenai Peninsula Clarion by Elwood Behmer. Alaska Gasline Development Corp. CEO Dan Fauske (NGP Photo) provided figures estimating a major impact to Alaska if the proposed in-state gas pipeline is built. “It will be the largest project in North America. It will supply 8,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs,” Fauske said Nov. 9 in a presentation to the Associated General Contractors of Alaska annual conference. The numbers expand on those in the final environmental impact statement released Oct. 26. The estimated $7.52 billion construction cost will involve moving 10 million cubic yards of soil, assembling 335,000 tons of pipe and 4 million miles of truck travel to transport equipment and supplies, according to ADGC statistics.
11-20-12 - Will Canada Begin Using the TAPS Terminal by 2018?
Celebrate its 30th Anniversary with the Alaska Support Industry Alliance!
North Dakota Sets New Record; take that, Alaska!
Our American Readers Celebrate Their Thanksgiving.
Our RDC Friends Have Posted Energy Conference Presentations Here.
From the Huffington Post:
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A group of Canadian businessmen has obtained the blessing of Alaskan tribes and Canadian First Nations to build a railroad through their lands that could carry up to five million barrels per day from the oil sands to the super tanker port in Valdez, Alaska.
This is truly a nation-building project that must be seriously evaluated by all governments and the oil industry. Preliminary feelers have been placed and it’s clear that the concept is the most viable and pragmatic solution for Canada’s logistical problems.
The proposed 2,400-kilometre railway would link Fort McMurray, Alta., with the Alaska oil pipeline system then on to the Valdez for export.
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company executives told the Resource Development Council’s annual Alaska Resources Conference on Nov. 14.| Petroleum News by Gary Park. The next 23 years will see Canadian oil production rise steadily as oil sands volumes grow by 250 percent to 4.3 million barrels per day, more than enough to offset shrinkage in conventional output, the International Energy Agency predicts. |
11-19-12 - Notes From the Road
Petroleum News Alaska by Kristen Nelson: BP Exploration (Alaska) and ConocoPhillips Alaska, the North Slope’s major operators, delivered similar messages to the Resource Development Council’s annual conference Nov. 14 in Anchorage: The state’s oil and gas tax system needs to be changed.
 Brad Keithley's Blog (NGP Photo): "in order to achieve what many call their first priority — oil reform — the Governor and legislature now are first going to need to relearn what they should have already been practicing all along — fiscal restraint." |
Commentary: Today's report features news from Canada's great think tank, the Frasier Institute. The news reminds one of Alaska's economic condition and America's economic condition. It may be that due to the relative weakness of the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar has shown strength. However, with more reliance on deficit spending, as in Alaska (i.e. 'deficit in the sense of 'unsustainable') and the U.S., Canadian politicians are finding the pressure to spend and counteracting environmental pressures both erode the energy industry's ability to support economies and its ability to usher large energy projects through complex political and regulatory gauntlets. We hope those involved in America's newer shale plays from North Dakota to Texas to New York do not replicate and then relive the political misjudgments made by other more mature energy cousins in Alaska and Canada. -dh
Frasier Institute: November edition of Fraser Update, where you can catch up on our latest research studies, newspaper commentaries, and events.
Earlier this week, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced that his government will continue running deficits until 2016-17. That's one year later than the finance minister predicted in the 2012 budget and the third time he has extended the government's balanced-budget projection since 2009.
NEW STUDIES:Lifting the Moratorium: The Costs and Benefits of Offshore Oil Drilling in British Columbia
BC and Canada could see billions of dollars in economic benefits if the federal government lifted the moratorium on offshore oil exploration off the province’s coast. This report shows how other jurisdictions such as Norway, the United Kingdom, and Newfoundland & Labrador have developed offshore oil resources and enjoyed tremendous economic benefits through increased energy-related investment and government revenue, all without causing significant environmental damage.
Read a summary | Read the news release
Laying the Groundwork for BC LNG Exports to Asia
The BC government's dream of creating jobs and investment by exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia could be at risk unless the cumbersome and overlapping regulatory process and environmental reviews can be streamlined. This report examines the barriers and obstacles that could delay or inhibit the construction of natural gas pipelines, gas liquefaction facilities, and marine terminals critical to building an LNG export industry.
Read a summary | Read the news release
RELATED NEWSPAPER REPORTS:
by Mark Milke (Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun, November 3)
In the debate over whether China's partially state-owned energy company CNOOC should be given the go-ahead by Ottawa to take over Calgary-based Nexen, there is the danger that the discussion will be cast in an adversarial east-west context. Read on
by Alan Dowd (American Legion Magazine, November 1)
Examining the autocrats who generate the most news and/or the most worries for the international community. Read on
by Mark Milke (National Post, Calgary Herald, October 26)
Mayors and councillors across North America regularly spend taxpayer cash trying to revitalize neighbourhoods or entire cities. They often do so in expensive and ineffective ways: grand schemes that wipe away existing neighbourhoods or street markets, only to be replaced with massive convention centres (mostly unused by locals) or costly new arenas for professional sports teams. Read on
11-18-12 Notes From the Road
Dear Readers:
We continue our photo, writing and other assignments as we explore more of Ecuador, this time the many micro climates leading gradually down from Cuenca to Loja and Vilcabamba.
We cannot speak too highly of the 
delectable, organic food and the sweetness of the indigenous people and courtesy of Spanish descendants--from children to shopkeepers to executives. The cultural offerings challenge any accomplishments in the performing and visual arts of which we are aware and the scenery, wildlife and consistently moderate climate make visiting here a true joy.
Yesterday I had the additional honor, as a former Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Chairman to provide photographic services for the Chamber's annual celebration of visitors (NGP Photo).
Guests could walk down the stairs from the Cathedral Todos Los Santos to El Puente Roto (Broken Bridge). There, a Saturday Market-like setting greeted visitors who enjoyed indigenous music and dancing in the 70 degree setting, complete with complimentary local foods and booths describing telecommunications, senior assisted living, finance, TravelMed surgeries, job hunting and local outdoor and indoor events galore. One Ex-Pat local couple was sitting on a big rock by the River .jpg)
enjoying the music and magic of the day .JPG)
(NGP Photo). I was happy to again encounter -- following an earlier trip in July to the factory -- Consuelo Jimbo (NGP Photo) of the Homero Ortega Company. Consuelo is an iconic model for the company, seen in magazines and posters around the world. Here, without having to watch her fingers work their magic, she weaves a 'Panama Hat', made famous by many films but actually originated and still made today in Ecuador.
Today comes a new adventure and departure from the business of Cuenca--a road trip from the higher ground here through some of the most beautiful mountains and valleys anywhere to the Valley of Longevity I have long wanted to photograph.
Few citizens here speak English forcing me to seek greater mastery of a language of my youth. Though I miss my family every minute, the adventure itself is fulfilling: poignant and full of new and colorful sights, nomadic challenges, and a very important quest for understanding at this special time of my life.
If readers have questions about this trip or wish to make comments, please feel free to do so though it might be sometime before you have a response.
Meanwhile, never fear, the energy reporting continues tomorrow, in these Notes From the Road.
Your interest means much. Be well.
Dave
11-16-12
Ewart: U.S. energy self-sufficiency not doomsday for Canada - Calgary Herald - By Stephen Ewart, Calgary Herald November 15, 2012 10:32 AM. Tweet. Comment. 0 ... The IEA also predicted the U.S. would overtake Russia as the leading natural gas producer in 2015 and be all but self-sufficient in energy by 2035. Apparently, the ...
Oilsands will be a definining showdown in battle between forms of ... - 
National Post - Jim Prentice (NGP Photo), the former Calgary MP who who served in the Harper cabinet as minister ...investment in Canada – in particular as it pertains to oil and gas.
Braid: Latest obstacle to oilsands product pure nonsense - Calgary Herald. B.C.'s politically unstable premier, Christy Clark, has already unilaterally categorized an Alberta product as different — and bad — to justify her opposition to the proposed Northern Gatewaypipeline. We're now having trouble sending the stuff to ...
Redford wants 'dialogue' with Quebec about roadblocks to Alberta oil - Calgary Herald
The spat comes as Calgary-based pipeline companies are looking for new ways to move additional crude into Eastern Canada. Enbridge is planning a significant expansion of its pipelines that carry crude from the oilsands and Bakken shale oilfield to ...
11-15-12
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Houston Chronicle: Energy alliance official: Keystone approval likely soon. “I think there’s no doubt the Keystone pipeline will be approved in fairly short order and generate economic growth,” John Northington, counsel to the alliance, said. But Northington and former Bush campaign official Michael Whatley (NGP Photo), executive vice president of the alliance, agreed looming talks about tax reform threaten to hurt independent drilling companies if the tax credit for intangible drilling costs is cut or eliminated. “If you take away those intangible drilling costs (for) independent producers, 25 percent of their drilling budget is going to come off the table,” Whatley said. **Houston Business Journal and Yahoo! News also report.
Charlotte Observer by Bruce Henderson. Piedmont Natural Gas has invested $180 million in a pipeline project that will ship natural gas from the massive Marcellus Shale deposits in northern Pennsylvania to markets in New York and New England.
Politico by Byron Tau. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (NGP Archive Photo) threatened .jpg)
to punch a reporter on a recent trip to Colorado, according to witnesses. Dave Philipps, a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette, tried to ask Salazar about his appointments to the Bureau of Land Management and the wild horse population in the state. Specifically, Philipps had questions about the government's relationship with a wild horse buyer who allegedly sold more than 1,700 horses to Mexican slaughterhouses. Ginger Kathrens, executive director of the Cloud Foundation, witnessed the exchange between Salazar and a reporter. Her organization put out a release cataloging the exchange and blasting Salazar for his treatment of the press. The group captured video of some of the exchange, but stopped recording before the threat itself. According to Kathrens, Salazar took two questions from Philipps before disagreeing with his line of questioning. "Don't you ever ... You know what, you do that again... I'll punch you out," Salazar reportedly told Philipps before ending the interview and walking off.
11-14-12
Calgary Herald by Deborah Yedlin (Photo). For years, energy scarcity is what has driven government energy policy. Nowhere more so than Alberta. But that changed, for real, on Monday when the International Energy Agency released its latest forecast for production and consumption.
Homer Tribune, by Naomi Klouda. Buccaneer Energy Limited intends to move forward with drilling plans three miles offshore from Anchor Point this winter, the company announced on Tuesday. In a press from the company’s Houston headquarters, the company did not commit to a date for when the Endeavour jack-up rig would move from the Homer Deep Water Dock, however.
11-13-12 - "Alaska Under Siege"
Petroleum News. Northern Canadian explorer MGM Energy is engaged in logistics planning and procurement to drill a vertical well this winter in the Central Mackenzie Valley, targeting the Canol oil shale.
should be required viewing for every Alaska citizen, member of Congress, every federal official dealing with Alaska energy and natural resource issues and our Canadian readers desiring to better understand their westerly, Northern cousin.
