oilsands

One oilpatch CEO argues any government investment in capturing carbon dioxide is misguided because it ignores another greenhouse gas, methane, that is a more potent atmospheric heat-trapper over a shorter period and has been proven to be a bigger problem for the industry than previously thought.

The climate emergency “will be orders of magnitude greater in severity” than what has happened with COVID-19, said Iron & Earth director Bruce Wilson.

Alberta has signed an agreement with the federal government that makes major cuts to environmental monitoring of the oilsands.

The Alberta Energy Regulator suspended environmental monitoring in oilpatch in response to public-health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CEO of Teck Resources Ltd. defended his company's growth strategy on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, as dissident shareholders criticized what they called "underperforming" investments in coal and oilsands.

Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta and the federal government will cost share a $42-million program to help farmers and ranchers deal with a backlog of cattle waiting to be processed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teck Resources Ltd. is leaving the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, an industry organization whose members represent about 80 per cent of Canada's oil and gas production.

A move by Husky Energy Inc. to halt production of 80,000 barrels per day takes the total reduction in Canadian crude output to about 365,000 bpd since the onset of measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, an analyst says.

Canada’s oil and gas sector was responsible for the largest portion of the country's carbon pollution in 2018, at 193 megatonnes (Mt), or 26 per cent.

Despite committing to the Paris climate agreement, Rainforest Action Network called the move by UBS an “absurdly weak policy.”

“Teck pulled out of a project that was a bad decision economically given their business case...and it was an even worse environmental decision," said NDP MP Laurel Collins.

"We saw Alberta drawing a line in the sand with the (Trans Mountain) pipeline. Now there’s another line in the sand," Independent Sen. Mary Coyle said, about the Frontier mine. "And you can’t keep going with those lines in the sand."

The federal government is studying the best options for Indigenous communities to reap economic benefits from the Trans Mountain pipeline but Ottawa is not planning to sell the project while legal and political risks remain.

A new wave of cold water is about to hit Canada's much-buffeted oilsands industry but whether it will be a perfect storm or a tempest in a teapot is yet to be seen.

The governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan are urging the Federal Court of Appeal to defer to cabinet's approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline because they say Indigenous opposition shouldn't outweigh other public interests in the project.