Energy and how it is captured and consumed is barely viable in tar sands production. While the amount of oil in places such as the tar sands in Alberta or the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela may have deposits of similar size to the reserves of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, the return of new energy after expending energy in production is not even close. In Iraq, the process of using one barrel of oil generates 100 new barrels. In the tar sands, estimates of 3 to 1 and even as low as 1.5 to 1 have been made. Offsetting the net energy loss would require minimally 25-30 tar sands facilities for one Saudi plant operating at the same capacity.
B.C. officially opposes Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline
'Our questions were not satisfactorily answered,' environment minister says
CBC News
May 31, 2013
The B.C. government has officially expressed its opposition to a proposal for the Northern Gateway pipeline project, saying it fails to address the province's environmental concerns.
The province made the announcement in its final written submission to the Northern Gateway Pipeline Joint Review Panel.
Oil pipeline to take all-new route from Surrey to Burnaby
By Jeff Nagel - Burnaby NewsLeader
May 27, 2013
Kinder Morgan Canada plans to stake out an almost all-new corridor for its second oil pipeline from Port Kells in Surrey to Burnaby to avoid digging through private property in densely populated neighbourhoods.
Greg Toth, senior project director of the Trans Mountain pipeline twinning, said following the existing right-of-way – as the company intends on most of the rest of the route through the Fraser Valley and the Interior – would be too disruptive to existing land owners.
Northwest Territories Looking to Bid for Pipelines
Lynsey Kitching
May 27, 2013
Tumbler Ridge News
The enormous opposition to the potential pipelines (Enbridge and Trans-Canada) in BC has spurred the Northwest Territories (NWT) to speak up and offer a solution to Alberta’s dilemma of getting their resources to market.
David Ramsay, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment for the NWT says, “If those opportunities don’t come for Alberta to the west coast, through a province like BC, we want to be seen as an option.”
First 100,000 Keystone comments reveal intensity of fight over oil sands pipeline
By Ben Geman - 05/24/13
Inside Climate News/The Hill
The State Department has begun making available over 1.2 million public comments received on its analysis of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, providing a glimpse into the intense political and organizing battle around the project.
The department announced late Thursday night that it had posted, on Regulations.gov, roughly 100,000 of the comments received on its March 1 draft environmental review. More will surface on the site weekly.
Oil sands deals lose traction
JEFFREY JONES
CALGARY — The Globe and Mail
May. 24 2013
There’s a buyers’ strike in the oil sands.
At least a half dozen energy companies have come up dry in efforts to attract the rich bids they envisaged when they put oil sands assets on the auction block in the past year, showing downward pricing pressure on a sector touted as the cornerstone of Canada’s economic growth.
Enbridge to meet re-elected B.C. Liberals on Northern Gateway
Rebecca Penty, Bloomberg News | 13/05/24
Enbridge Inc. is moving ahead with plans to meet five conditions for the British Columbia government to support its proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline, after a Liberal re-election made clear terms needed to satisfy officials in the Pacific Coast province.
With U.S. Awash in Oil, Keystone Argument Weakens
By John H. Cushman Jr.
May 24, 2013
InsideClimateNews.org -- U.S. oil production is suddenly growing so fast that some analysts are questioning how much the country really needs the Canadian tar sands oil that would move through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
House supporters of KXL received $56m from fossil fuel industry
Republican led House passed a bill that would force Obama to approve the controversial pipeline
By Natasha Lennard
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Jordan to Rely on Shale Oil to Meet Soaring Domestic Demand
7 August 2012—Jordan aims to extract 40,000 BOPD of oil from its shale oil reserves by 2016 to meet the country’s increasing demand, Jordan Oil Shale Energy Company (JOSECO) said.
JOSECO is a subsidiary of Estonian state-owned Eesti Energia.
Nunavut sees devolution light after long Arctic winter
Yadullah Hussain | Jul 20, 2012
Financial Post
Nunavut would like nothing more than be the master of its own destiny and has begun negotiations with the federal government to transfer land rights and royalties as it seeks to explore its fossil fuel riches, says Peter Taptuna, Nunavut’s Minister of Economic Development and Transportation. Excerpts from the interview:
Q The Arctic has become a focus area for many jurisdictions. Has Nunavut also noticed a surge in interest in its petroleum resources?
