Economics drive tar sands operations. Record highs in oil prices, though still fluctuating, will make tar sand oil ‘economical’ (read: profitable) well into the future. Government subsidies to this environmentally disastrous process remain in place from a time when the federal government was sponsoring research into the possibility of recovering this oil. Stock prices of tar sands developers grow the more conventional oil is scarce.
Enbridge undeterred by B.C. chiefs’ rebuke of Northern Gateway
wendy stueck
VANCOUVER— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
With its sole public agreement with a native group in tatters, Northern Gateway proponent Enbridge Inc. on Wednesday said it will continue to court the Gitxsan First Nation and other bands whose traditional territories would be crossed by the $5.5-billion pipeline project.
Obama denies permit for Keystone pipeline
Alberta Tories to blame for our friendless status
By Don Braid, Calgary Herald January 19, 2012
As the Keystone XL pipeline collides yet again with U.S. politics, nobody cries for Alberta. Our licence plate motto could be: Alberta, The Friendless Province.
And we've earned our lonely state; or at least, successive PC governments have won it for us.
This latest fiasco results from decades of bad provincial policy, lax oversight, and overweening, belligerent pride in money and resources bestowed by nature, not by virtue.
Exxon 'loses' Venezuela nationalisation case
World's biggest oil company receives ten per cent of what it demanded in a dispute over the planet's "largest" deposit.
Chris Arsenault
06 Jan 2012
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has taken a tough line with multinational oil companies [GALLO/GETTY]
Hugo Chavez must be smiling.
Oil Shale in Morocco: Reserves, History and Production
FreePRNews.in(Press Release) - Friday, January 6th, 2012 -
Latin oil supplies for U.S. start to dry up
Canadian pipeline can fill gap
By Patrice Hill
The Washington Times
Monday, January 2, 2012
The political and environmental debates swirling around the proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas miss a crucial point, energy analysts say: The Canadian oil is needed to replace fast-dwindling production from two other major suppliers of oil — Mexico and Venezuela.
Big oil's aggressive plan to run more pipelines through Super Natural B.C.
Barry Saxifrage
Nov 30th, 2011
This is the second part of a two part series. The first part explored the dramatic decline in American oil imports and why they won’t absorb much more of the tar sands expanding flows. Today’s second part explains just what that means for Vancouver and BC as a proposed string of gigantic tar sands pipelines target our coast.
Lots and lots of new tar sands pipelines
Pipeline Inspector-Turned Whistleblower Calls Keystone XL a Potential “Disaster”
By Stephen Lacey on Jan 3, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Mike Klink: Let’s be clear — I am an engineer; I am not telling you we shouldn’t build pipelines. We just should not build this one.
By forcing the White House to make a decision on the politically and environmentally-toxic Keystone XL pipeline as part of an agreement reached in December to extend the payroll tax cut, Republicans are being lambasted by environmental groups for undercutting the federal environmental review process.
NOTE: warning, this was pulled off of Fox News. :)
Obama, Congress Begin New Year Locked in Keystone Pipeline Dispute
Published January 02, 2012
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – President Obama and Congress are starting the election year locked in a tussle over a proposed 1,700-mile oil pipeline from Canada to Texas that will force the White House to make a politically risky choice between two key Democratic constituencies.
Some unions say the Keystone XL pipeline would create thousands of jobs. Environmentalists fear it could lead to an oil spill disaster.
‘Oil shale: A sound way to achieve energy independence'
By SHARON UDASIN
Jerusalem Post
01/03/2012
Private initiative releases its final assessment on environmental impact to pave way for pilot drilling and production.
After completing operations at its six oil shale experimental drilling sites, Israel Energy Initiatives has submitted a final assessment of its project’s environmental impacts to the Environmental Protection Ministry.
IEI hopes to get the project’s official pilot phase under way in the coming months.
PetroChina to take full control of MacKay River oilsands project from Athabasca
By Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
January 03, 2012
CALGARY - Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. has decided to sell its 40 per cent stake in the MacKay River oilsands project to joint-venture partner PetroChina, giving a Chinese oil giant full control of an oilsands asset for the first time.
