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National Energy Board News

22 Feb 2019

Regulator: Expand Pipeline, Protect Killer Whales

© Wesley/AdobeStock

Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) regulator recommended on Friday that Ottawa approve expansion of the government-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline, but made new, nonbinding recommendations to mitigate harm to Pacific Ocean killer whales and the environment.The pipeline is in the national interest as it will create jobs and give Canadian oil access to more markets, the NEB said in a report. But expanding it is likely to significantly harm the killer whale population off the coast of British Columbia and increase greenhouse gas emissions from ships…

07 Nov 2016

Canada Oil Spill Program Hit by Cheap Crude

The two-year oil price crash has hurt a Canadian government program that funds research on oil spill cleanups, resulting in fewer applicants than expected, a senior federal official said. As a result, the government will expand the scope of its Oil Spill Response Science Program and open a second call for applications this month, Marc Wickham, Natural Resources Canada's director of energy science and technology programs, said in an interview late last week. The program funds research that improves cleanup methods for marine oil spills. Those eligible include production, pipeline and shipping companies in the energy sector. Wickham spoke with Reuters after it obtained details of the program's amendment through an access-to-information request.

14 Nov 2015

Canada PM Tells Minister to Modernize Energy Regulator

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed his natural resources minister to "modernize" Canada's independent pipeline regulator, said a letter released on Friday that gave details on the newly elected leader's environmental plans. Trudeau asked Natural Resources Minister James Carr to ensure the Calgary-based National Energy Board (NEB) has a balanced representation from across the country, as well as sufficient expertise in environmental science, community development and indigenous traditional knowledge. The Liberal prime minister on Friday published all of the mandate letters sent to his cabinet ministers, which instructed several of them to restore environmental legislation that was changed by the previous Conservative government.

10 Nov 2015

Crowley Approved to Import Canada-sourced LNG

Photo: Crowley

Crowley Maritime Corp. ’s petroleum distribution group has been granted approval by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Energy Board – Canada (NEB) to import Canadian-sourced liquefied natural gas (LNG) for supply, transportation and distribution throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The renewable, two-year import and export licenses now allow the company to import up to 2.12 billion cubic feet (BCF) of LNG via truck in 10,700-gallon ISO tanks or in bulk via oceangoing vessels, Crowley said.

27 Jun 2015

Imperial Oil/Exxon/BP Gr defer drilling in Canada's Arctic

Imperial Oil Ltd said on Friday it and partners Exxon Mobil Corp  and BP Plc need more time before they can drill an exploratory well in Canadian Arctic waters and are seeking an extension to their exploration license in the region. Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for Imperial, said the license for the group's exploration parcel in the Beaufort Sea, a section of the Arctic Ocean, expires in 2020. He said the group is asking the Canadian government for a seven-year extension so it can complete the requirements of the regulatory process and have adequate time to make a decision on how, or when, it will drill a well in the region. "There's a significant amount of work between where we are today and where we would need to be if we were to drill a well by 2020," Rolheiser said.

27 Jun 2015

Exxon, BP Defer Canadian Arctic Drilling

As Imperial Oil, as senior partner in the northern venture with ExxonMobil and BP, told Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) that the exploration program has been deferred, the plan to revive arctic gas and oil drilling in deep Canadian waters of the Beaufort Sea ground to a halt. The slow pace of regulatory review has left too little time to finish the approval process and does the work before the group's drilling leases expire, Imperial said in a filing at the board. The partners – Calgary-based Imperial, Exxon Mobil and BP – have asked Canadian officials for seven-year extensions of Beaufort Sea exploration licenses that are currently scheduled to expire in 2020, reported Reuters.

11 Jun 2015

Canada Approves Pipeline to Feed Pacific LNG Plant

The Canadian government has approved TransCanada Corp's proposed C$1.7 billion ($1.38 billion) North Montney Mainline natural gas pipeline that would connect natural gas fields in northern British Columbia with a Pacific Coast export terminal. The North Montney line would feed into a second new pipeline, the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line, that would serve an $11 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal, called the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, proposed by state-owned Malaysian energy company Petronas. The federal natural resources department announced the North Montney approval late on Wednesday. In April, the Canadian regulator…

10 Jun 2015

LNG export terminal by 2018: AltaGas

AltaGas says it is on track to build a liquefied natural gas plant in British Columbia by 2018. The Canadian Press is reporting this morning comments made by AltaGas CEO refuting a recent International Energy Agency report saying LNG will be a slow industry to take off, with no facility built in the country by 2020. “We think we’ll prove them wrong in this decade,” David Cornhill told the Canadian Press in an interview. The proposed project is headed by the Douglas Channel LNG Consortium, a partnership led by AltaGas Ltd, a midstream company known in the Peace as the operator of the Younger Natural Gas Liquids Extraction Plant in Taylor and the Bear Mountain Wind Park in Dawson Creek.

29 Oct 2014

BG Group to Delay LNG Terminal on Canada's Pacific Coast

British oil and gas producer BG Group Plc will delay until the next decade a proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal on Canada's Pacific coast, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting the head of the company's Canadian unit. "We'd always said (construction would begin) as early as 2016, but we now recognize it'll likely be later, with commercial operations likely beginning early in the next decade," BG Canada President Madeline Whitaker said in an interview with the Journal. Kim Blomley, a spokesman for BG Group, said he could not immediately confirm if the project had slipped into the next decade, but he noted comments by interim Executive Chairman Andrew Gould during a post-earnings conference call on Tuesday.

08 Jul 2014

Steelhead LNG Plans $30B LNG Export Terminal

A  Canadian company jumped into British Columbia's crowded liquefied natural gas (LNG) export fray with a plan to build a $30 billion terminal on Vancouver Island. Steelhead LNG said it applied to Canadian regulators for permission to export up to 30 million tonnes of LNG a year for 25 years, joining a list of fourteen companies vying to build projects in the Pacific Coast province. The National Energy Board has already approved export licenses for nine projects in British Columbia. With Steelhead, it has five more under review, as global and domestic companies scramble to build the facilities needed to ship cheap Canadian gas to energy-hungry Asian markets. "It is a competitive market.

14 May 2014

Canada Revamps Pipeline Safety Rules Ahead Of New Projects

Canada unveiled new rules on Wednesday to enhance pipeline safety and spill response, ahead of the development of new projects proposed to carry crude from Alberta's oil sands to coastal ports for export. The new legislation will give Canada's energy regulator, the National Energy Board (NEB), more power to enforce compliance on safety and the authority to step in to lead spill response if a company is unwilling or unable to do so. Companies will also now be held liable, up to C$1 billion ($917 million), for all spills or incidents on their lines, whether or not they are at-fault or negligent, putting the onus on owners to ensure safe operations.

20 Feb 2014

Ziff Energy, GPMi Launch LNG Study

Ziff Energy and Gas Processing Management Inc. analyze the gas growth areas of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta and British Columbia. Ziff Energy, a division of HSB Solomon Associates LLC (Solomon), and Gas Processing Management Inc. (GPMi) announced the launch of the Gas West for LNG Growth Study, which analyzes the gas growth areas of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta and British Columbia as key suppliers of natural gas to the developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on the West Coast of British Columbia (Canada) and Oregon (United States). The proponents of 16 natural gas liquefaction (NGL) and export facilities have applied to the Canadian National Energy Board for licenses to export gas volumes or have announced potential projects.

02 Dec 2013

Aurora LNG Submits Canada Export Bid

British Columbia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) proposal at Grassy Point near Prince Rupert has filed its export application with Canada's National Energy Board (NEB). "Aurora LNG is moving forward with their plans to export B.C.'s natural gas to new markets overseas," said Premier Christy Clark. "This marks another step towards realizing the transformative opportunity LNG presents us. "Filing an application for an export license is an important step," said Kevin Reinhart, CEO of Nexen. "However, we still have a lengthy process ahead of us before final investment decisions are made. Aurora LNG has filed its export application just over two weeks after signing a sole proponent agreement with the Province of British Columbia.

16 Dec 2011

Canada Announces Arctic Offshore Drilling Rules

The National Energy Board (NEB or the Board) released filing requirements today for future applications to drill in the Canadian Arctic Offshore. The Filing Requirements, a companion document to The Past is Always Present, Review of Offshore Drilling in the Canadian Arctic, Preparing for the Future, follows several months of extensive consultation carried out across the North during the NEB’s Arctic Review. During the Arctic Review, many Northern residents stated that if drilling is to be authorized in the unique Arctic environment, it must be done right. The root cause of most offshore accidents is the lack of a broadly shared safety culture. In other words, people don’t do what they are supposed to do.