Industry is attracting high-profile visitors and worldwide business interests, as well as growing
protest from environmentalists.



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$300M commercial project to link Edmonton upgraders with old oilfields in southwest Alberta

CALGARY - A small Calgary company unveiled plans on Thursday for Alberta's first carbon dioxide pipeline to increase oil production from old oilfields. Enhance Energy Inc., a private firm that specializes in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), is proposing to build the system to link upgraders and processing facilities around Edmonton to old fields in the south-central area of the province to increase oil production. Read More

"Likely another record-breaking quarter . . . driven entirely by strong commodity prices," is how Andrew Potter, an analyst with UBS Securities in Calgary, summed up the outlook. Read More

Enhance Energy Inc., which specializes in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), said the planned system will be capable of gathering CO2 from several sources in Alberta's Industrial Heartland and transporting the CO2 to existing mature oil fields throughout South-Central Alberta. The CCS proces involves pumping the CO2 into the oil fields to increase the outflow of oil, while simultaneously storing the carbon underground. Read More

In 2006, Shell Canada, which already operates the giant Athabasca oil project, already acquired Alberta's oil sands producer BlackRock Ventures Inc. for C$2.4 billion. And in December, BP PLC (BP) took its first plunge into oil sands, when it agreed to a $5.5 billion asset swap and investment plan with Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.T). Read More

OTTAWA - The gaping regional economic divide between the West and the rest will widen even further this year as high commodity prices cushion the resource-rich western provinces from the deepening slump in the U.S., which is dragging down the other provinces, especially in the export-oriented manufacturing heartland of Ontario and Quebec, forecasters warned Thursday. Read More

CALGARY — In its race to secure its energy supply, India is taking a new look at the oil sands.
State-owned Indian energy companies are looking to invest at least $2.5-billion (U.S.) and as much as $10-billion in Alberta's oil sands as part of a national strategy aimed at fuelling India's fast-growing and energy-hungry economy, according to officials who spoke yesterday at the Global Petroleum Conference in Madrid. Read More

A significant amount of growth is anticipated for Redwater, and several developers are hoping to ride that wave when it hits home. One developer in particular has major plans to develop several different lots in Redwater. Terragold Inc. is a land development and investment company based in Edmonton. They own several areas of land in Redwater. One such piece will be called Kingswood Heights. This residential area will have all types of housing including, duplexes, bungalows, town houses, condominiums, etc. Read More

$480M deal for Calgary-based firm brings greater oilsands holdings: French oil major Total said Monday it will buy Synenco Energy Inc. for about $480 million in a deal that will boost Total's holdings in Canada's oilsands region and end Synenco's year-long search for a buyer. Total will offer $9 for each Synenco share, which represents a premium of around 15.5 per cent to Synenco's closing price on Friday of $7.79. Read More

Edmonton developer Ravi Gill is planning to build 435 new homes in Redwater to house industrial workers and retiring farmers. Redwater is ideally located for a growing workforce in the nearby Industrial Heartland, he says. Site preparation already has started for the NorthWest upgrader and “the Petro-Canada upgrader is likely to get its clearance in 2008.” With America’s thirst for a reliable oil supply and Premier Ed Stelmach’s encouragement of an Alberta bitumen- upgrading industry “it doesn’t take too much thought to know that this area has to grow,” Gill says. Read More