January 2006 ISSUE
doing business
edmonton ring road section opens early
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Bridge View |
BY NORDAHL FLAKSTAD
Freelance Writer
A six-kilometre section of Edmonton's southwest Anthony Henday ring road has opened a year ahead of schedule.
The section, between Lessard Road and Terwillegar Drive, includes the new twin bridges over the North Saskatchewan River. Each bridge is 360 metres long with two lanes, although both are designed to eventually accommodate four lanes of traffic.
The bridge for southbound traffic features a lighted pedestrian walkway underneath the deck. The walkway ties into the Edmonton River Valley trail network and park system.
The entire southwest leg of Anthony Henday will be completed by fall 2006, providing a direct connection between the QE II and Highway 16. PCL Construction provided construction management services for the project.
Renewed Movement On Mackenzie Pipeline
The federal government has offered $2.8 billion in concessions for the stalled
Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline project. The offer was followed within days by
an announcement from Imperial Oil Ltd., the lead player on the $7-billion natural
gas pipeline.
The consortium headed by Imperial placed the pipeline on hold in April pending agreements with northern aboriginal groups. There is still no agreement with the Deh Cho First Nation, whose land covers about 40 per cent of the route.
National Energy Board project hearings are set to start in early 2006.
The federal package includes $1.2 billion in incentives for the consortium sponsoring the project, plus a $1.6-billlion guarantee for the aboriginal partners.
EnCana Eyes Oil Sands Expansion
Over the next decade EnCana Corp. plans a 12-fold increase in its oil sands activities
in northeastern Alberta. The $12.5 billion in spending on the Borealis, Christina
Lake and Forster Creek properties would increase EnCana oil sands output to 500,000
barrels a day by 2015.
EnCana will seek partners for the expansion, particularly for downstream and refining aspects.
Meanwhile, EnCana has sought B.C. Oil and Gas Commission permission to build a natural gas processing plant, 50 km south of Dawson Creek. Its output will be 200 million cubic feet per day.
EUB Halt of Gas Flows Allows for Oil Sands Output
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board has rejected producer pleas to permit
production from more than 900 natural gas wells seen as threatening future oil
sands production. The decision confirms a 2004 EUB ruling.
The Alberta Government had already announced a royalty reduction program for the companies forced to shut in gas wells.
The affected areas contain an estimated 15 per cent of Alberta’s bitumen reserves, while the gas involved amounts to less than one per cent of the province’s reserves.
Paramount Energy Trust is looking into technical solutions to allow production from the affected wells without reducing the underground pressure needed for oil sands production. Paramount President Sue Riddell Rose, P.Geol., said the decision “does not come as a surprise to us, but it does bring some disappointment.”
BlackRock Steps Up Orion SAGD Project
BlackRock Ventures Inc. will proceed with its Orion Project, which will use steam-assisted
gravity drainage to produce 20,000 bb/d of oil at Hilda Lake, 40 km west of Cold
Lake. After running field trials for eight years, BlackRock now plans to spend
$340 million on development.
Alberta Firms Win Contracts For Ontario Renewable
Energy
Four Alberta firms are among nine chosen by the Ontario Government to provide
about 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy for the province’s energy grid.
Successful bidders with Alberta links are Canadian Hydro
Developers Inc., Leader
Wind Corp. (Enbridge), EPCOR Power Development (Ontario)
Limited Partnership and
Suncor Energy Products Inc. with EHN Windpower Canada Inc.
CNRL Eyes Even Bigger Future
Already in the midst of its $10-billion Horizon oil sands project, Canadian
Natural Resources Ltd. foresees spending a further $25 billion to raise output to 800,000
bb/d by 2017. That would make it Canada’s most costly construction project
ever.
The Horizon project already is set to produce 232,000 bb/d by 2012.
CNRL President Steve Laut, P.Eng., said: “I don’t think it is
too big a bite at all.”
The expansions are expected to involve 3,500 to 4,000 workers over a 12-year
period and include
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speedup of the Horizon project and adding two new phases to the project
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a new upgrader to serve Primrose area production that would rely on steam injection
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investment in new up-grading technologies.
Plans are premised on steady expansion to allow CNRL to keep in place the engineering and construction teams already assembled.
TEC Edmonton Gets Federal Funding
The federal government, through Western Economic Diversification Canada, has
committed $2 million to enhance TEC Edmonton’s programs for technology,
entrepreneur and community development.
TEC Edmonton is a not-for-profit organization that provides services to university inventors, early stage technology companies, and entrepreneurs striving to generate and commercialize new ideas and technologies.
It was launched in 2004 as a joint venture between the University of Alberta and Edmonton Economic Development Corp.
Large Portion of Shell Budget Heads to Oil Sands
Shell Canada Ltd. plans 2006 investments worth about $2.7 billion, a 60-per-cent
rise over anticipated 2005 spend-ing. The 2006 plan includes $2.4 billion of
capital and $255 million of related exploration and pre-development expenses.
The 2006 total investment program for the oil sands business segment is about $965 million, including $85 million of pre-development expenses related to future growth projects in the Athabasca area.
About $385 million of the 2006 oil sands program is for existing Athabasca Oil Sands Project operational initiatives, including profitability, debottlenecking and production optimization, and sustaining capital.
Enbridge Teams Up With Value Creation
Enbridge Inc. and privately held Value Creation Inc. of Calgary have formed a
strategic alliance to pursue oil sands energy infrastructure development. Enbridge
will invest $25 million for a minority equity interest in VIC.
VCI focuses on creating unusual values in the value-enhancement chain of oil sands development, leveraging with innovative technologies and synergies. VCI is the major shareholder of BA Energy, which is building a bitumen upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan.
VCI also holds oil sands leases and permits on 71,800 hectares of land with estimated resources of 25 to 30 billion barrels of bitumen-in-place.
Suncor and Canfor Walk Together Through Forest
Suncor Energy and the forestry company Canfor Inc. have signed a path-finding
integrated land-use management plan for a 650,000-hectare tract near Grande Prairie.
Through co-ordination and cooperation, the two resource companies will strive to reduce the footprint of their activities in the area. The plan, the first to cover an entire forest management area, provides for action on access roads, reforestation, position of seismic lines, wildlife protection and more.
EPCOR Opens Power Plant At Landfill
EPCOR has opened a 4.8-megawatt generating plant at its Edmonton Clover Bar landfill
site. The $7.3-million plant is fuelled by methane tapped from 17 wells.
Pembina Joins in the Spirit With Terasen Pipelines
Terasen Pipelines Inc. will take on the Pembina
Pipeline Infrastructure Fund as a partner in developing the Spirit Pipeline. The pipeline will ship 100,000
bb/d of condensate from Kitimat, B.C., to Alberta for use in transporting oil
sands production.
National Power Grid Contemplated
Montana Alberta Tie of Calgary is considering a $1-billion, Canadian east-west
power grid to eventually permit sale of B.C.-generated electricity to Ontario.
The company is already is planning the 2006 construction start of a 300-kilovolt
link between Lethbridge and Great Falls, Mont.