Author: James Westgate Snell

The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin contains some of the largest oil and gas reserves on earth, extracted using world-leading knowledge and technology.  

At 1.4 million square kilometres, larger than the entire country of Peru, the vast WCSB accumulation of sedimentary rock stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Canadian Shield to the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories.

The wedge-shaped geological structure is roughly six kilometres thick under the Rocky Mountains and thins to zero at its eastern margin in Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan.  

Over the decades, geologists like Nicole Renella of Cabra Consulting, along with countless geophysicists, engineers and technologists, have developed sophisticated methods for discovering and producing oil and gas from porous rock.  

Continue reading “Canada’s trillion-dollar rock”

A growing number of Indigenous people are being employed in Canada’s oil and gas industry and the sector has eliminated the wage gap with non-Indigenous workers, according to new federal statistics.

Indigenous people make nearly three times more in the energy sector than in other industries – $140,400 versus $51,120, says recent census data published in a report by the Indigenous Resources Network (IRN). In particular, Indigenous women are thriving, earning $115,400 versus $43,600 in other industries. Pipeline jobs for women pay the most, $151,000 for crude oil and $113,000 for gas.

“These numbers show the resource sector is valuing the skills and experience that Indigenous workers bring to the table,” says John Desjarlais, board chair of the Indigenous Resource Network.

Continue reading “Indigenous workers are earning high wages in Canadian oil and gas industry”

North America’s first commercial small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) is expected to come online in Ontario’s power grid within five years, sparking hopes of lower emissions across the country, including Alberta’s oil sands.

SMRs can produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity – enough power to supply around 200,000 homes. They may be deployed for heavy industry, backup for renewables, steam generation, hydrogen production, and oil and gas facilities. They can be constructed in one location, then shipped and operated at a separate site.

“SMRs are like a Swiss Army knife of the nuclear world,” said John Gorman, president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Association. “They produce very high temperature heat in a clean, scalable way. That’s important because not only can they produce electricity, but they can also use that heat to do things like produce steel or extract bitumen in the oil sands.”

Continue reading “North America’s first commercial small modular reactor holds promise across Canada”

Japan and South Korea are looking to Canada for reliable liquefied natural gas (LNG) to offset coal-fired power and reduced Russian energy supplies, but recent comments from B.C. Premier David Eby may lead to disappointment for Canada’s natural resource-poor trading partners.

Eby was asked in the B.C. legislature about the delayed permit decision on the proposed $3 billion Cedar LNG facility in Kitimat, which is 50 per cent owned by the Haisla Nation. According to the First Nations LNG Alliance, Eby cited “complex issues” of climate targets and economic development with Indigenous communities, and said the world is transitioning away from fossil fuels.

But LNG consumers see it a different way.

Continue reading “‘The world is waiting’ for Canadian LNG: Japan, South Korea reps say”

Construction of the long awaited Woodfibre LNG export facility near Squamish B.C. is scheduled to begin in September.

The $5.1 billion project is expected to be Canada’s second entry into the soaring global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, following the LNG Canada project in the Port of Kitimat.

Woodfibre is planning a self-contained floating camp to accommodate hundreds of workers during peak construction. The facility will be contained on the old Woodfibre pulp mill site seven kilometres from Squamish. Continue reading “Canadian Energy Centre: Woodfibre LNG plans construction kick-off”

The Haisla Nation is growing anxious for a regulatory decision on its proposed $3-billion Cedar LNG project on the west coast of Canada at the Port of Kitimat.

If constructed, the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, in partnership with Pembina Pipeline, would be one of the largest industrial projects ever developed by an Indigenous community in Canada.

An approval decision from provincial and federal authorities was expected before the end of 2022.

“In regard to the approval of the environmental assessment, it has definitely been frustrating, to say the least,” said Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Crystal Smith during an interview at the B.C. Natural Resources Forum in January. Continue reading “Canadian Energy Centre: Haisla Chief frustrated waiting on regulatory decision for Cedar LNG”