october 2009 issue
|
|
Doing Business
EnCana Gets Set to Split
BY NORDAHL FLAKSTAD
Freelance Writer
EnCana Corp. will again proceed with plans to split into two energy companies.
The reorganization was first announced in May 2008 but was later placed on hold in the wake of the economic downturn.
One company is for natural gas operations and will be called EnCana (GasCo). Its portfolio will be prolific shale and other gas resource plays across North America. The other will be an integrated oil company, called Cenovus Energy Inc. It will hold interests in enhanced oil production and refineries, as well as in oil and gas resource plays.
Four Utilities Seek To
Zap Plans for ENMAX Plant
Suggesting unfair competition, four privately owned Alberta electrical power producers are taking City of Calgary-owned ENMAX Energy to court over its power plant plans. In February 2008, ENMAX announced the Shepard Energy Centre, an 800-MW, natural gas-fired generation facility on the east side of Calgary.
TransCanada Energy, TransAlta Corp., ATCO Power Ltd. and Capital Power Corp., the now privatized portion of EPCOR Utilities, question whether municipally owned ENMAX is operating on a competitive level playing field, given its links to the City of Calgary. The legal intervention was initiated prior to a government-appointed assessor deciding in late September on the fairness of ENMAX’s application. Results of that assessment were unknown at presstime.
Alberta Clipper
Faces Court Challenge
The Alberta Clipper received U.S. State Department approval in August, but a group of U.S. aboriginal and environmental groups have now launched a court action challenging the project.
The pipeline is designed to carry up to 450,000 barrels of bitumen a day between Alberta and Superior, Wis. The legal action claims that in approving the American leg of the project, the State Department has violated the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act.
Oilers Group Sets Sights
On Downtown Arena
The Katz Group, owners of the NHL Edmonton Oilers hockey club, has announced its preferred site for a new downtown Edmonton hockey arena. The site is an area of 104th Avenue and 101st Street, including land now housing the Baccarat Casino.
 |
FUTURE ARENA SITE? |
Chinese Buy Into Oilsands
PetroChina International Investment Company Ltd., the China National Petroleum Corp.’s international subsidiary, has upped the Chinese ante in the oilsands. The company has bought a 60 per cent stake in the privately owned Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. for $1.9 billion, a company with about 10 billion barrels of bitumen reserves, mostly within the MacKay River and Dover oilsands sites.
PetroChina’s acquisition represents the largest Chinese investment in the Alberta oilsands.
Meanwhile, PetroChina will not pursue a purchase worth US $446 million of Calgary-based Verenex Energy Inc., which it announced in February. Verenex, which is actively involved in Libya, did not obtain needed approvals for the acquisition from Libya’s National Oil Corporation.
Court Approves
Seismic Studies Off B.C. Coast
Seismic studies 250 kilometres off the coast of Vancouver Island will continue, now that Canada’s Federal Court has rejected requests by environmental groups to block the activity. The studies, being conducted from the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth, are intended to better understand and predict earthquakes.
Twin Butte Buys
Buffalo Resources
Twin Butte Energy Ltd. has agreed to acquire another Calgary junior oil company, Buffalo Resources Corp., for $119 million. Buffalo owns Alberta and Saskatchewan properties with daily production amounting to 3,600 barrels-of-oil equivalent.
Suncor Staff Reduced
After Petro-Can Merger
Following the company’s recent merger with Petro-Canada, Suncor Energy Inc. expects some 1,000 employees to have left the company by mid-October through layoffs, retirements and discontinuation of contract positions.
When the merger was announced in March, the companies estimated it would yield annual reductions of $300 million in operating expenditures and $1 billion in capital expenditures.
Said Suncor President and CEO Rick George: “One month after close, we are already seeing significant savings through integration of our product marketing logistics and economies of scale in our supply chain.”
In another Suncor development, the company has shelved plans for a $1-billion heavy-oil processing unit at its Montreal refinery, formerly owned by Petro-Canada.
Routes Mapped
For Edmonton LRT
City of Edmonton officials have submitted final recommendations on routes for proposed western and southeastern extensions of the city’s light rail transit system.
For the West End, recommendations call for a route that would follow Stony Plain Road, then head south on 156th Street before moving west along 87th Avenue, past the West Edmonton Mall and on to Lewis Estates. This proposed route avoids constructing a bridge across the North Saskatchewan River.
However, plans for the southeastern line do call for a river crossing, allowing trains to follow 75th Street towards Mill Woods.
The new lines, each projected to cost $900 million to $1.2 billion, are expected to have low-floor trains running at street level on dedicated rights-of-way. The trains on the existing line are accessed at stations with elevated platforms.
Equipment From BA Upgrader Auctioned Off
BA Energy, which has spent more than half a billion dollars on the partial construction of a bitumen upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan, has auctioned off assets in a court-ordered sale. BA filed for bankruptcy protection last January.
Meanwhile, Aux Sable Canada Ltd., owned jointly by Enbridge Inc. and U.S. chemical firm Fort Chicago, is nearing completion of a $45-million plant to process off-gas from the BA upgrader. A spokesperson for Aux Sable said the company is looking for alternative fuel sources.
Edmonton Council Calls For Underground High-Voltage Line
Edmonton City Council wants Alberta Utilities Commission to consider burying portions of the Heartland Transmission Project where it runs though the city. The proposed 500,000-volt line would provide electricity to oil upgraders northeast of Edmonton.
Burying this size of line has been estimated to cost 20 times that of using conventional, above-ground transmission towers. Such capacity underground is considered an emerging technology.
Mining Needs Propping Up,
Says Association
The Mining Association of Canada has called on governments to recognize the impact the recession has had on the industry. The association reports that 32 Canadian mining operations have closed or suspended operations this year and others are operating below capacity.
To offset this economic undermining, the association urges work on additional infrastructure programs. Its action list includes more efficient regulation, better access to land, increased northern development, and tax incentives to encourage investment in mining.