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2009 moreGoogle below

Tuesday 06 January 2009 VANCOUVER: ANOTHER EXPLOSION AT NATURAL GAS FACILITY
Another explosion has targeted an Encana natural gas facility in northeastern British Columbia. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say Encana gas line workers discovered a partially destroyed metering shed on Sunday at a well head near the community of Tomslake. Investigators said it appeared to be a deliberate attack, similar to three other blasts in October at Encana operations in the same northeastern BC area, east of Dawson Creek. No one was hurt in the latest incident, no gas leaked and the scene was secured. No one has been arrested and damage was minimal when bombs were set off at three Encana pipeline installations over several over several days in October.

Tuesday 06 January 2009 European gas supplies disrupted
Several EU countries report major disruption to their gas supplies from Russia as Moscow accuses Ukraine of shutting pipelines.

Monday 05 January 2009 Oil price rises on Gaza conflict
Oil rises briefly above $48 a barrel on fears of heightened Middle East tension after Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Monday 05 January 2009 CALGARY: JUNIOR OIL FIRM SELLS PROPERTYCALGARY: TRANSCANADA LOSES PARTNERS
Two partners in a proposed natural gas pipeline project by TransCanada Corp. have withdrawn from it. The Canadian pipeline firm has proposed a 1,077-kilometre pipeline that would run between the U.S. states of Colorado and North Dakota, where it would connect to a major gas transmission and processing system in the U.S. Midwest. Enterprise Products Partners LP and Quicksilver Gas Services LP have backed out of their 50-per cent stake in the Pathfinder project on the grounds that the world credit crisis makes it less likely to be profitable. Pathfinder was devised to make up for a shortage of pipeline capacity in the Rockies which has caused energy firms to reduce drilling.

Friday 02 January 2009 np Consolidation With oil trading near $45 (U.S.) a barrel and the market capitalizations of Canada's biggest energy producers taking an absolute beating, 2009 could see a rash of consolidation in the oil patch. The world's largest producers are said to be sitting on about $200-billion in cash, and are finding it increasingly costly to add to their reserves. They may choose to go shopping rather than exploring.

“Big Oil has a growth problem for sure but is extremely well capitalized and we now see an M&A window opening,” Credit Suisse energy analyst Mark Flannery wrote.

Analysts suggest big U.S. producers such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Devon Energy Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. are likely targets, as are any Canadian oil sands players that have proven reserves.

2008

Wednesday 24 December 2008 RUSSIA
Natural gas-exporting states have announced the formation of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum aimed at co-ordinating world gas policies. The grouping was first planned at a meeting in Teheran in 2001 but now its basic rules have been agreed. The GECF was have its headquarters in Qatar. The Forum's participants took pains to explain that the purpose of the meeting wasn't to form a cartel like OPEC but to approve a charter. However, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that the era of cheap gas is over. The Russian energy giant Gazprom supplies one-quarter of the EU's gas supply. Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela and Algeria have almost two-thirds of the world's gas reserves and account for 42 per cent of production

Tuesday 23 December 2008 Oil falls further as demand slows
Oil prices extend their losses due to growing signs of weakening demand from consumers amid the global economic slowdown.

Monday 15 December 2008 OPEC Looks to Halt Falling Oil Prices
The oil cartel has been stunned by the stunning speed of the downturn, which has created a sudden nightmare for producers.

Friday 05 December 2008 Crude steady near four-year low
Oil prices recover slightly to trade just above $44 a barrel, but remain near almost four-year lows as weak demand continues.

Wednesday 03 December 2008 CALGARY: NEXEN STOCK SOARS AFTER TAKEOVER REPORT
Shares of Canadian energy firm Nexen Inc. were up by as much as 33 per cent in Toronto on Tuesday. The rise came in apparent reaction to a report in the Financial Times of London that Total SA, Europe's third-biggest oil firm, is ready to make a takeover offer. According to the newspaper, Total's directors are meeting to weigh an offer worth as much as $19.7 billion, or $38 a share. There have been rumours for months that the French company is interested in acquiring Nexen, which owns a seven-per cent share of Syncrude Canada, the world's largest oilsands project.

Friday 28 November 2008 SAINT JOHN: IRVING DELAYS REFINERY PROJECT
Irving Oil says it will stretch out the construction of a second oil refinery in the city from four to eight years. However, the $8-billion project will still begin in 2011. The company explains that the longer period is due to shortages of skilled labour, higher borrowing costs and the downturn of the North American economy. Energy Minister Jack Keir says Irving's announcement is good news because he had feared that it and its partner British Petroleum might cancel the project altogether because of the current financial climate.

Wednesday 26 November 2008 Oil rises as Russia threatens cut
The cost of oil rises slightly after Russia says it may join producers' cartel Opec in cutting output to support crude prices.

The Somali hijackers of a huge Saudi oil tanker have sailed it farther out to sea in apparent response to a threat by Somali Islamists to rescue the vessel by force. The Sirius Star, which was captured on Nov. 15, is now 50 kilometres at sea from the Somali port of Harardhere. The ship is conveying oil worth $100 million. The kidnappers are demanding millions in ransom for its return.

Tuesday 25 November 2008 YARMOUTH: OIL BARGE SINKS
A Transport Canada plane is monitoring the site where an oil barge went down near Yarmouth, NS, over the weekend. The unmanned barge was carrying 70,000 litres of diesel oil when it sank in rough seas while being towed to Halifax. A Coast Guard ship is also on the scene, but officials say there is no sign of an oil slick or any significant leakage. Rescue crews are still trying to determine if the barge can be brought to the surface. THE GOSPEL OF GREEN
Reporter: BOB MCKEOWN  |  Originally aired: November 12, 2008

NP November 19, 2008

Wednesday 19 November 2008 Opec 'lost $700bn on cheaper oil' Opec members have lost about $700bn (£467bn) because of falling crude prices, the oil cartel's president is quoted as saying.

THE STRAIGHT GOODS:
Somali pirates have captured a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million worth of oil. A medical study states that one in three Canadian adults with asthma may have been misdiagnosed. The sole survivor of a British Columbia plane crash on Sunday gets the media spotlight today.
—————————————————————–

PIRATES SEIZE MOST SWAG EVER
The Post fronts, while The National, CTV News, the Globe, and the Star go inside and La Presse briefs news that Somali pirates have captured a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million-worth of crude oil. At three times the size of an aircraft, the Sirius Star is considered the largest ship ever seized by pirates. The hijacking took place off the coast of Kenya as the ship was sailing towards the United States under the gaze of NATO and the European Union, who, after repeated pirate attacks, agreed to patrol that particular shipping route. There were no reports of damage, but the seized ship was carrying twenty-five crew hailing from Croatia, Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia. The National reports that the pirates likely used speedboats to hook onto the low-lying supertanker, as well as a hijacked Nigerian tug-boat that served as their “mother ship” from which they based their operations.

Foreign forces are keeping their distance from the supertanker, as pirates are often heavily armed, but CTV News reports Somali officials have vowed to rescue the ship by force, if necessary. The more likely option, today’s news sources contend, is that the ship will likely be released by a payment of ransom - the going rate is usually $1 million, according to CTV News. The CBC website provides background to the recent spate of pirate attacks, stating that there has been an upsurge in these attacks due to recent fighting between Islamist forces and the Western-backed government in Somalia. As many as a dozen ships are currently being held by pirates off the eastern coast of Africa, including a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and other military equipment. The CBC adds that both sides in the Somali conflict are benefiting from the spoils of piracy - without explaining how, or who the unnamed analysts are who are saying this.

Tuesday 18 November 2008 Pirates have seized a Saudi supertanker off East Africa. The U.S. Navy says the fully-laden tanker was in a shipping zone where Somali pirates strike almost daily. A spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, The navy says it's the largest ship the Somalis have seized. The Serius Star has a cargo of up to two million barrels of oil, more than one quarter of Saudi Arabia's daily exports. The hijacking took place 830 kilometres southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. More than 60 ships have been hijacked off eastern Africa this year.

NP November 17, 2008

A

At Exxon, Making the Case for Oil November 15, 2008

Wednesday 12 November 2008 Oil price slides to 20-month low
Oil prices have fallen to the lowest levels since the beginning of 2007 due to worries about weakening energy demand.

Sunday 09 November 2008 CALGARY: DRILLING IN ALBERTA PREDICTED DOWN
The Petroleum Services Association of Canada predicts that there will be 10 per cent fewer oil and natural gas wells drilled next year than this. The lobby says there will be a nine per cent decline in Alberta because of the new royalty régime that goes into effect in January and will cost the energy industry an additional $1.4 billion. The drilling decline in Alberta will be partly offset by a 29-per cent increase in neighbouring British Columbia and a nine-per cent increase in Saskatchewan. Association President Pierre Soucy says that the new régime in Alberta makes it more attractive for companies to diversify into places like B.C. and Saskatchewan that are seen as being more competitive.

Tuesday 04 November 2008 VANCOUVER: GAS PIPELINE AGAIN BOMBED
EnCana Corp. says a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia has been bombed for the third time in the past month. The energy firm says the bombing occurred on Thursday but was only discovered on Friday. The amount of toxic sour gas that escaped is said to have been small. Police had continued to investigate the previous bombings at Dawson Creek and Tomlinson. No one has been charged. There has been speculation that the bombings are linked to a letter sent to local new media last month demanding that the energy industry leave the region.

Monday 03 November 2008 VANCOUVER: RESIDENTS FEAR WIDENING PIPELINE ATTACKS
There is concern that attacks on a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia are moving closer to populated areas. There have been three explosions in less than a month that targeted the Calgary-based energy firm EnCana, including the latest one on Friday near Dawson Creek. None of the attacks has disrupted the flow of gas or resulted in injuries. A special team from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is following up several leads. A threatening letter was sent to the local media the day before the first attack. The writer called EnCana and other energy companies "terrorists" for expanding what the writer said were "deadly gas mines." The letter gave the companies a deadline to shut down their operations.

EDMONTON: PROTESTERS WANT HALT TO SANDS PROJECTS
More than 200 protesters marched on the legislature in Edmonton Saturday. They demanded a halt to any new oilsands projects in Alberta. The protest was organized by the Council of Canadians. Participants said oilsands projects around the Fort McMurray area have devastated the landscape, destroyed vegetation and wildlife and left an environmental disaster. The Alberta government says that cleanup and land-reclamation projects are restoring the landscape, but it admits a lot more must be done.

Sunday 02 November 2008 Oil prices up after record falls
Oil rises almost 3% on Friday - but falling demand pushes crude prices to their biggest monthly drop in October.

Friday 31 October 2008 CALGARY: IMPERIAL IMPROVES RESULTS
Imperial Oil Ltd., Canada's largest oil company, has announced a 70-per cent increase in profits for the quarter ending Sept. 30 to almost $1.4 billion. The integrated energy firm attributes the success to high oil prices and profits in all of its various businesses, including oil production refining, petrochemical and gasoline sales.

OPEC cuts, but crude keeps falling (01:12)
Oct 24 - Ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, agree to a 1.5 million barrel per day production cut, but it does little to stop the price slide.
The price of crude oil has been falling since the summer, as many countries fall into recession and demand for energy has slumped.

Monday 20 October 2008 DAWSON CREEK: VILLAGERS EXPRESS CONCERN OVER PIPELINE ATTACKS
Concerns about two recent bomb attacks on gas pipelines in northwestern British Columbia prompted some 200 people to attend a public meeting in Dawson Creek on Friday night. Many local people are opposed to the rapid expansion of the gas business in western Canada. The recent attacks caused no injuries and minor damages to the pipeline. But the gas could prove fatal to humans exposed to it. Canada's federal police force is investigating the pipeline explosions. Several police officers who attended the meeting told the audience that it's simply not possible to patrol every stretch of the hundreds of kilometres of pipeline through the area.

Friday 17 October 2008 DAWSON CREEK: PIPELINE AGAIN ATTACKED
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says it has deployed its national terrorism unit to investigate two explosions along natural gas pipelines in northern British Columbia. The RCMP says the latest explosion appears to have been a deliberate act similar to a blast along the same facility earlier on Saturday. The explosion occurred near Dawson Creek, near the border with neighbouring Alberta. The pipeline did not rupture. It is owned by energy firm Encana Inc., which also owns the other pipeline targeted. No one has claimed responsibility but the RCMP think it may be related to a letter sent to news media earlier in the week demanding a shutdown of oil and gas projects by Saturday. Both blasts targeted pipelines conveying sour gas, which is natural gas containing toxic hydrogen sulphide. Critics of sour gas development fear the substance endangers the health of nearby residents. Sour gas can be fatal if inhaled.

Monday 13 October 2008 Oil plunges to 13-month low
Global slowdown fears rattle market as IEA cuts demand forecast

Friday 26 September 2008
The Texan who made his billions on oil is singing from a different book – he says the U.S. clings to crude at its peril

Tuesday 23 September 2008 CALGARY: OIL FIRM FOCUSSED ON MIDEAST UP FOR SALE
Tanganyika Oil Co. says it has entered exclusive talks for its sale with an unnamed outside party. The Calgary-based firm said it wouldn't advance any more details of the negotiations until a deal is completed, although no deal is guaranteed. Tanganyika has been expanding its production in Syria. If a transactions ensues, it would continue a trend toward the selloff of Canadian energy firms focussed on the Middle East and central Asia. Earlier this month, Italian oil firm Eni acquired First Calgary Petroleums for $923 million. Tanganyika stock soared by $6 at midday in Toronto, selling at $23.50.

Monday 22 September 2008 MUMBAI: CANADIAN FIRM HELPS BRING OIL TO INDIA
A joint Canadian-Indian project has begun pumping oil at a deep-water well in the Bay of Bengal. The project by Reliance Industries of India and Niko Resources of Canada expects to increase India's oil and gas production by 40 per cent within 18 months. India is the world's fifth largest energy consumer. It spends about 77 billion U.S. dollars a year to import about three-quarters of its oil. Reliance says the new well would reduce that cost by 20 billion dollars. Niko has a ten per cent stake in the project.

Monday 15 September 2008 Oil falls below $97 a barrel
Concerns over supply ease after Hurricane Ike inflicts minimal damage to oil installations on Texas coast

Monday 15 September 2008 UNITED STATES
Americans have been told they should brace for possible gas shortages because Texas oil refineries have been disabled by Hurricane Ike. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison says that the refineries might not be running to full capacity for up to nine day. Meanwhile, officials in the city of Huston have declared a weeklong night-time curfew in the city, which was hard hit by the huricane. Most of the city is without power, the streets are littered with debris, and police are worried about the safety of residents who refused to evacuate before the storm hit. Hundreds of people have been rescued. Crews are still canvassing neighbourhoods hit by the storm surge.

Thursday 28 August 2008 OTTAWA: FINGERS OF BLAME POINTED FOR HIGH GAS PRICES
Retailers and refiners blamed each other for the high prices of gasoline. The fingers were pointed during testimony before the House of Commons subcommittee on oil and gas. Committee members are trying to find out how the price of a barrel of crude oil jumped from US$70 to well above US$140 in one year. While the price has fallen since July, gasoline prices have not fallen as quickly. The president of the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, Jane Savage, says retailers aren't to blame for high gas prices but that the culprits are speculators in oil markets and the few refiners who set the benchmark prices that retailers pay. But the president of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, Peter Boag, denied it, says that refiners have seen their profits lowered by high world oil prices. Mr. Boag also told MPs that Canadians pay the second-lowest prices in the Western world for petroleum products.

Wednesday 20 August 2008 ST. JOHN'S: OFFSHORE OIL PROJECT A GO
The long-delayed Hebron offshore oil project in the east coast province of Newfoundland and Labrador will officially be launched on Wednesday. Premier Danny Williams says his government has signed an agreement with the consortium in charge of the $5-billion project. The main partners in the project are ExxonMobil Oil Canada, Chevron Canada Resources, Petro-Canada, Norsk Hydro and the government itself. The parties concluded a tentative agreement last August after lengthy arguments that ended in the government receiving a 4.9-per cent equity share in Hebron. The development is expected to produce 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day for 25 years.

Aug 17 2008 The Elephant in the Tank
EXCLUSIVE: Intel's former C.E.O. Andy Grove says high-profile plans by Boone Pickens and Al Gore don't tackle the single most dangerous energy issue facing America.
To drill or not to drill? That has been the question this summer as Congress, the president, and both candidates debate where and whether we should be exploring for domestic oil. The implication is that this is an important step in reducing our dependence on imported oil. I

Saturday 16 August 2008 VANCOUVER: ENERGY EXPLORATION SHIFTS PROVINCES
The government of the Western provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan earned $745 million on Thursday in their latest auctions of drilling rights for oil and natural gas. The figure for B-.C. was $502 million and for Saskatchewan $243 million. Both auctions were their second-biggest. At the present rate, both would surpass such transactions in the country's main energy province, Alberta, where many of the most important lots for drilling rights have already been sold. Oil and natural gas have now become B.C.'s most important exports, surpassing forestry products, forestry now being mired in deep depression.

Friday 15 August 2008

Iraq The benefits and the curse of oil
The country is awash with oil money but still lacks a proper plan

Friday 15 August 2008 LONDON: SHELL GUILTY OF MISLEADING ADS ABOUT OILSANDS
The Shell group of oil firms has been found guilty of false advertising in the UK for having praised its investments in Canada's oilsands region as representing "sustainable development." Britain's advertising regulator has ruled that Shell's ad in the Financial Times newspaper was deceitful because it failed to explain how Shell controls carbon emissions in its oilsands projects. The World Wildlife Fund had complained about the ad to the regulator. Many environmentalists have denounced oilsands production because

Oil Falls Again as the Dollar Strengthens
On Monday, oil traded below $113 a barrel, its lowest level since early May, and the euro, so strong for so long, tumbled below $1.49, its weakest level since February.

Tuesday 05 August 2008 Oil price falls further to $118
Oil prices touch $118 a barrel, the lowest price for three months, as figures indicate supplies are rising.

Friday Jul 25, 2008 Oil prices masking 'export recession'
Oil prices rebounded from a seven-week low yesterday in what traders said was technical trading and a short-covering bounce...

Thursday 24 July 2008 Arctic 'has 90bn barrels of oil'
The Arctic holds some 90bn barrels of oil, equal to Russia's known reserves, according to US government data.

A new study says that the equivalent of 112 billion barrels of oil lie undiscovered beneath the ice and water of the North American Arctic. The report by the U.S. Geological Survey reports that the deposits comprise oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The report says that 412 billion barrels of oil equivalent lie undiscovered north of the Arctic Circle, most of it off the coast of Russia. Two of the areas off North America are in dispute, Canada and the U.S. arguing about their border in waters of the Beaufort Sea, with Canada and Denmark arguing about the border between Baffin Island and Greenland.

Thursday Jul 24, 2008 Alaska approves pipeline
Alaska's House of Representatives voted late Tuesday to allow TransCanada Corp. to build a massive pipeline to tap the vast...

Thursday Jul 24, 2008 Arctic holds 25% of world's untapped petroleum: study
Nearly a quarter of the world's undiscovered petroleum resources lie in the Arctic, confirms a U.S. ...

Wednesday 23 July 2008 Oil prices continue on downwards
The price of oil keeps on sliding as US demand wanes and a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico takes a favourable course.

Wednesday Jul 23, 2008 Pickens sees oil hitting $300 a barrel in 10 years
Oil prices fell to a six-week low yesterday amid concerns over sliding U.S. energy demand and expectations that a tropical...

Wednesday 16 July 2008 Oil prices tumble as stockpiles increase
...Light, sweet crude for August delivery is down $6.44 (U.S.) at $132.30 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Saturday 12 July 2008

Thursday 10 July 2008 OTTAWA: HIGH OIL PRICES REPORTED DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD
A report by the Bank of Montreal says that soaring oil prices are having an overall negative impact on Canadians and their economy. Douglas Porter, BMO's deputy chief economist, writes that the conventional wisdom has been that the economy benefits on net from higher oil prices because of the country's role as a major and growing energy exporter. But Mr. Porter says that consumers are paying a steep price in terms of high gasoline, electricity and heating expenses. The economist notes that fuel costs have risen to a point at which households spending a record seven per cent of their revenues on energy. Mr. Porter writes as well that industry is suffering greatly from higher production costs and the slowdown in the world and U.S. economies due to fuel costs. According to the economist, the turning point came when the price of a barrel of oil reached US$120. It was trading at about $137 on Wednesday.

Thursday 03 July 2008 NEW YORK: CRUDE PRICE HITS PEAK
The price of light, sweet crude for August delivery closed at a record US$143.57 a barrel on Wednesday, after rising earlier in the day as high as US$144.15. The closing price was US$2.60 above Tuesday's close. The development coincided with a report by the U.S. energy department that crude oil supplies fell by two million barrels last week. Traders expressed fear of possible attacks against Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil producer, a development that could impel that nation to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. About 40 per cent of the worlld's oil tanker tanker traffic passes through the Strait.

Tuesday 01 July 2008 IRAQ
The government has opened up six immense oilfields to foreign firms. Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani says that the six oilfields are "the backbone of Iraqi oil production," and that with its vast reserves his country ought to be the second- or third-biggest oil producer. Opponents of the 2003 war that toppled the government of the late dictator Saddam Hussein who have claimed that the conflict was aimed at allowing Western oil companies access to Iraq's oil wealth are certain to have been angered by the development. Iraq's oil-producing neighbours Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE keep production under the control of state energy firms.

Sunday 29 June 2008 CALGARY: GAS, OIL PRICES RIDING JUGGERNAUT
A Canadian bank predicts that gasoline and oil prices have only just begun to take off. Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada forecasts that drivers will be paying $1.43 a litre this summer, compared with about $1.23 a litre now, and that it will thus cost about $80 to fill a tank. The report also sees the price of a barrel of crude oil at US$150 by 2010, which will soar to US$225 a barrel four years later.

Friday 27 June 2008 Oil Hits New High as Dow Flirts With Bear Territory
Oil prices climbed further Friday and

Tuesday 24 June 2008 MIAMI: U.S. MAYORS UNITED AGAINST CANADA'S OILSANDS
U.S. mayors have voted for a resolution that urges American cities not to use gasoline derived from Canadian oilsands in municipal vehicles. The resolution says that oilsands projects threaten forests and create three times more greenhouse gases than conventional oil exploitation. The statement also complains that the use of gas from oilsands delays the transition in the U.S. to clearner sources of energy. U.S. federal legislation already had forbidden imported alternate energy sources that create more toxic emissions than conventional oil but it apparently won't apply to oilsands.

Tuesday 24 June 2008 DOHA: MINISTER CAUTIONS AGAINST EXCESSIVE OPTIMISM ON OIL PRICES
Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn says there isn't an instant solution to the problem of soaring oil prices. Mr. Lunn spoke to the CTV television network after the weekend summit of oil producers and consumers which Saudi Arabia had convoked in Jidda. Mr. Lunn says participants agreed that there should be co-operation to bring stability to markets but the markets themselves have to determine prices. The Saudis have blamed speculation, the low U.S. dollar and high fuel taxes for the recent rise of prices.

Monday 16 June 2008 Saudi oil output to rise in July
Saudi Arabia will increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels a day from July, its oil minister tells the United Nations.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi made the oil pledge to Mr Ban on Sunday

Saudi Arabia will increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels a day next month in a move to meet growing world demand, the United Nations says.

The news was announced after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon met Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in Jeddah for talks on the high oil price.

Sunday 15 June 2008 Plan Would Lift Saudi Oil Output to Highest Ever
Saudi Arabia’s plan to boost production next month was seen as a sign that the Saudis are nervous about the political and economic effect of high oil prices.

Sunday 15 June 2008 Finance ministers of the Group of Eight industrialized countries, including Canada's Jim Flaherty, ended two days of meetings in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday, vowing to work together to address common problems. The G-8 ministers issued a statement saying that rising oil and commodity prices are threatening global growth. However, they delayed taking any concrete measures until further analysis of the price hikes emerge. The G-8 also called on oil-producing nations to raise production and called for aid to address a looming food crisis in developing nations.

Saturday 14 June 2008 QUEBEC GASOLINE FIRMS GUILTY OF RIGGING PRICES
The federal Competition Bureau has revealed that 11 gas companies and 13 individuals have been found guilty of price-fixing at gas stations in Quebec. The stations found guilty included stations with the Shell, Esso, Petro-Canada, Irving Oil and Ultramar banners but explained that the companies weren't guilty but rather local operators. One company, Ultramar Ltée., was fined $1.9 million and one of its employees fined $50,000. The Bureau says a $2-million fine was levelled against three of the companies and one person who pleaded guilty of conspiracy. The competition watchdog says its investigators found that station operators in such cities as Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke telephoned each other to agree on prices.

Thursday Jun 12, 2008 Cut rates, rethink biofuels, OECD urges
The federal government should establish a fund into which it puts windfall revenues from soaring prices for oil and other...

Tuesday 10 June 2008 OTTAWA: OIL TO BE TOP SUBJECT FOR G8 MINISTERS
The federal finance department says that the surge of crude oil prices will top the agenda at the meeting to be attended on Friday and Saturday in Osaka, Japan, by Canada's finance minister, Jim Flaherty, and his G8 counterparts. Officials revealed that the soaring prices have become a concern since the ministers last met in April. The officials say they don't think the trend is the result of speculation but that the ministers will receive a report on the issue from the International Monetary Fund. The sources say that the department interprets the evidence indicates that the price of oil is being driven by high demand from countries like China and India. The officials also noted at a briefing that part of the problem is that some countries, including China, subsidize oil prices, thus negating market forces that would drive demand downwards when prices are high.

Monday 09 June 2008 nyt Question: What do America’s premier investor, Warren Buffett, and Iran’s toxic president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have in common? Answer: They’ve both made a bet about Israel’s future.

Monday 09 June 2008 Oil Prices Raise Cost of Making Range of Goods
Companies that make hard goods using raw materials derived from oil are seeing their costs skyrocket and are pondering difficult choices.

Saturday Jun 7, 2008 Oil jumps nearly 9% higher to record US$139
Oil prices could top US$150 by July 4, one of the busiest U.S. travel holidays, as strong demand in Asia triggers a slowdown in shipments of crude to the United States, investment bank Morgan Stanley said.
"We are calling for a short-term spike in oil prices," the bank said in a research note.

Friday 30 May 2008 As Oil Prices Soar, Restaurant Grease Thefts Rise
The value of processed fryer oil has increased in recent months to historic highs, and there have been reports of thefts from restaurants in multiple states.

Thursday 29 May 2008 Oil stocks still a bargain
It's a matter of when, not if, commodity analysts come out with new, higher targets

Friday 23 May 2008 Double, oil and trouble
The price of oil is beyond $130 a barrel. Where will it stop?

Wednesday 21 May 2008 The Cassandra of Oil Prices
An analyst who heard scoffing when he predicted $100-a-barrel oil now expects the price to reach $200.
An analyst at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Murti has become the talk of the oil market by issuing one sensational forecast after another. A few years ago, rivals scoffed when he predicted oil would breach $100 a barrel. Few are laughing now. Oil shattered yet another record on Tuesday, touching $129.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas at $4 a gallon is arriving just in time for those long summer drives.

Friday 16 May 2008 Oil and the economy
High oil prices may yet damage the global economy ... more

Friday 16 May 2008 CALGARY: IMPERIAL SUFFERS COURT SETBACK TO OILSANDS PROJECT
A federal judge has confirmed an earlier court ruling that blocks Imperial Oil Ltd. from proceeding with planned $8-billion Kearl oilsands mine in northern Alberta. Imperial was in court last week fighting the federal revocation of a permit to drain a vast stretch of muskeg in preparation for an open-pit oilsands mine. Imperial estimates that the area contains 4.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Wednesday May 14, 2008 Oil surges as Iran mulls cut in output
Oil surged to a record peak near $127 yesterday after OPEC producer Iran said it was studying a plan...

Wednesday 30 April 2008 CALGARY: NEXEN EARNINGS PHENOMENAL
Nexen Inc. says it made a first-quarter profit of $630 million, an increase of 421 per cent over the result a year earlier. The company attributes its excellent quarterly fortunes to strong production and high commodity prices. CEO Charlie Fisher says that his company has now become reconciled with the new royalties rates announced fall by the government of Premier Ed Stelmach. Nexen was one of a series of energy firms which reacted by reducing capital spending in the province. Mr. Fisher told shareholders at the annual meeting that the company is sufficiently encouraged by an improved situation to consider restarting study to develop coalbed methane holdings in central Alberta. Despite having spent $170 million last year in exploration and development of its CBM assets, Nexen stopped the project as part of a $1.2 billion decrease in total spending. Earlier in the month, the government said it would spend more than $1 billion over next five years on programs designed to encourage new deep gas and CBM wells, which Mr. Fischer says restore the economics of the project.

WASHINGTON: ALBERTANS PRESS OILSANDS CAUSE
Alberta's envoy to the U.S., Garry Mar, reports that the province expects an energy working group to classify oilsands fuel as a conventional resource to avoid a restriction on imported energy products. An energy bill approved last year forbids the U.S. government to buy "alternative" fuels that produce more greenhouse gas than other sources. Canada argues that oil from the oilsands is processed in conventional facilities. Mr. Mar says a favourable finding by the working group would be helpful, but that that wouldn't rule out legal action. A coalition of environmentalists wants Canada to slow oilsands projects. Alberta Deputy Premier Ron Stevens joins Mr. Mar in Washington this week to lobby lawmakers and officials.

Saturday Apr 26, 2008 $200 a barrel oil? $75 is more likely
Hang on to your hats as oil shoots above $200 a barrel over the next few years, warns a new forecast from a leading Canadian...

Oil price jumps more than $2
Back above $118. Supply disruptions, heightened tensions in Persian Gulf cited
Oil prices jumped more than $2 to above $118 a barrel yesterday on supply disruptions in Nigeria and the North Sea and fresh tensions between the United States and Iran.

Thursday 17 April 2008

Oil hovers near $115 record high

The weakening US dollar is having a big effect on oil prices

Oil prices are hovering close to $115 a barrel, having crossed the record mark on Thursday after a US inventory report raised concerns about supplies.

US light, sweet crude oil pulled back slightly to $114.82 in New York from the previous day's $115.21 high.

Brent crude hit an all-time peak of $112.83 before falling back slightly.

Wednesday 16 April 2008 NEW YORK: OIL SOARS TO RECORD HIGH
Oil traders on Tuesday pushed prices as high as high as $113.99 a barrel before the price closed at $113.79, up $2.03 from the record close on Monday. Light sweet crude for May delivery went as high as $114.08. Concerns about global supply evidently stoked the trading, due in part to a report by the International Energy Agency that warned that Russian oil production will drop this year for the first time in a decade. Gasoline rose as well, with the Americ