November 2006 ISSUE
DOING BUSINESS
EnCana Building Alters Calgary Skyline
BY NORDAHL FLAKSTAD
Freelance Writer
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DOWNTOWN IMPRESSION -Courtesy of EnCana Corporation |
EnCana Corp.’s growth will soon jut above the Calgary skyline in the form of The Bow, a 59-storey highrise in the heart of downtown. Move-in is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2010 for a building that will bring together EnCana staff now working from five Calgary sites.
Configured in the shape of — you guessed it — a bow, the 1.7-million-square-foot tower will cost from $850 million to $1 billion and be bounded by Fifth Avenue, Seventh Avenue, Centre Street and First Street SE. The Bow will feature an energy efficient design that employs natural light and ventilation. It’s expected to use about 30 per cent less energy than a comparable conventional tower.
Matthews Southwest of Toronto and Dallas is the lead project developer, Foster + Partners of London, England, is the signature architect, and Zeidler Partnership of Calgary is the project architect. EnCana retained Jeremy Sturgess of Calgary’s Sturgess Architecture for master planning of streetscaping and urban design.
EnCana, ConocoPhillips
Team Up for Oil Sands
EnCana Corp. and ConocoPhillips Co. will create
an integrated heavy-oil venture worth $11 billion. It will involve two 50/50
operating partnerships, one in the Canadian upstream sector and the other in
U.S. downstream.
The upstream partnership will consist of EnCana’s Foster Creek and Christina Lake projects in Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands. These assets hold more than 6.5 billion barrels of recoverable bitumen.
The partnership’s goal is to increase production from the current 50,000 barrels per day of bitumen to 400,000 bb/d by 2015. The partnership plans to transport and sell the bitumen blend at major Alberta trading hubs. EnCana will operate and manage the upstream partnership, headquartered in Calgary.
The downstream partnership will consist of ConocoPhillips’ Wood River and Borger refineries in Roxana, Ill., and Borger, Tex. The partnership plans to expand heavy oil processing capacity at these plants from about 60,000 bb/d to 550,000 bb/d by 2015. Bitumen handling capacity will grow from 30,000 to 275,000 bb/d.
Alberta to Invest in Biofuels
The Province of Alberta will invest $239 million in biofuels over the next five
years through a credit for producers and a program to support technology.
The four-year Renewable Energy Producer Credit program will provide $209 million to help introduce renewable products into traditional fuel and energy markets. It will also help Alberta compete with jurisdictions that already provide programs and tax exemptions to distributors that blend biofuels.
The remaining $30 million will support technology investment in marketing and distributing bioenergy products for fuel or electrical power. Funding will come from the Energy Innovation Fund set up earlier this year.
BP Readies U.S. Plant
For Canadian Heavy Crude
BP PLC plans to invest $3 billion US to process Canadian heavy
crude at its Whiting refinery in northwest Indiana.
Right now, the plant processes 80,000 to 90,000 bb/d of heavy Canadian crude. The reconfiguration will increase the figure to 350,000 bb/d, or most of the plant’s feedstock capacity, said BP America Inc. chairman and president Bob Malone. The move could also increase production of motor fuels by about 15 per cent.
Pending regulatory approval, construction should begin next year and finish by 2011.
Ring Road’s Southwest
Fully Open in Edmonton
Opening of an eight-kilometre southwest portion of Edmonton’s Anthony Henday
Drive completes a direct link from the Yellowhead Highway to the south side.
Calgary Trail and Queen Elizabeth II Highway are now hooked to Whitemud Drive
and the Yellowhead through the southwest, reducing travelling times and distances
for drivers.
Built at a cost of $310 million, the full, 18-kilometre southwest leg of
the ring road includes a major new crossing of the North Saskatchewan River and
five interchanges. Next year, the southwest section will connect with a further
11-km southeast portion of the route, which eventually will circle Edmonton.
In another Edmonton development, following two years of construction, a major
overpass over a CN mainline has been completed adjacent to Yellowhead Trail at
156th Street.
Completed on time and within its budget of $64 million, the project eliminates a major traffic bottleneck in an industrial zone leading to St. Albert and points north.
PCL Learning Centre
Gains LEED Certification
The PCL Centennial Learning Centre in Edmonton has been certified
in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program at the gold level — the
first Alberta private-sector building to achieve this next-to-highest LEED level.
Cohos Evamy was the prime consultant on the centre, providing integrated design services including architecture, interior design, and structural, mechanical and electrical engineering.
LEED is a widely recognized rating system created and administered by the Green Building Council. The highest certification available is platinum.
The Learning Centre is a flagship project celebrating PCL’s 100th anniversary and one of only 20 LEED gold projects in Canada — the second in Edmonton and the third in Alberta.
New Wind Farm Announced
For Lethbridge Area
Shear Wind Inc. of Halifax and Vindt Resources Inc. of Calgary will develop a
wind park near Lethbridge with a predicted annual energy yield of about 700 gigawatts.
The Coyote Ridge Wind Park, a 5,400-hectare property, will use 100, two-MW wind
turbines, says an assessment by Phoenix Engineering Inc.
Shear Wind already provides wind-generated energy in the Atlantic provinces. Vindt Resources’ core business is also the exploration and development of wind energy resources.
Pengrowth Buys
Carson Creek Assets
From Exxon Mobil
Pengrowth Energy Trust has acquired assets owned by ExxonMobil
Canada Energy in the Carson Creek area of north central Alberta for
$475 million. The transaction involves 5,100 bb/d of production, two-thirds of
which is oil and natural gas liquids.
New Interchange Links
Two Calgary Health Centres
A newly opened, $23-million interchange on Calgary’s 16th Avenue NW completes
a direct connection between the Foothills Medical Centre and the new Alberta
Children’s Hospital.
The Alberta Government put $18 million into the interchange, the City of Calgary $5 million. The city will own the interchange and be responsible for operation and maintenance.
The interchange opening coincides with the recent opening of the new Alberta Children’s Hospital and the transfer of patients from the old one.
Cumberland Proceeding
With Nunavut Gold Mine
Cumberland Resources Ltd. plans to proceed with its $313-million, Meadowbank
gold development, 70 km north of Baker Lake, Nunavut. The project is expected
to create 300 full-time jobs.
The project involves Canada’s largest pure gold open pit reserves. It’s forecast to produce an average of 330,000 ounces per year over the mine’s eight-year life. Production is anticipated in late 2008 or early 2009.
Company Announces
New Alberta
Elevation Model
North West Geomatics Ltd. has announced detailed plans to create a new digital
elevation model of Alberta. Next spring, North West will get to work with the
latest light detection and ranging technology, as well as airborne radar using
a dual-frequency, synthetic aperture system. A company news release promises
highly accurate bare-earth and full-feature datasets.
EUB Investigating
Pipeline Leak
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board has launched an investigation following
an Oct. 10 leak of about 1,260 barrels of light crude from a pipeline near Lesser
Slave Lake.
The 24-inch pipeline owned by Rainbow Pipe Line Company runs from Zama Lake to Edmonton. Although it was shut in and the spill contained, oil did enter a creek in the area.
The board reports there were no injuries. The release of oil did not result in a fire, no evacuations were necessary and there was no danger to the public. The investigation was expected to take up to 90 days.
Rainbow Pipe Line Company Ltd. is owned by Shell Canada Ltd., Exxon Mobil Canada Ltd. and Imperial Oil Ltd.
Shaw Pipe to Build New Plant
Shaw Pipe Protection Ltd. will invest $30 million to upgrade
its existing facilities and add a new pipe-coating plant in Camrose. Shaw owns
six Canadian pipe-coating plants — two in Edmonton, and one each in Calgary,
Camrose, Regina and Hamilton.
The expansion was announced shortly after a bid fell through for Shaw Pipe to buy rival Garneau Inc.