Oilweek

The woes of gas producers are well-known. What is uncertain is who will be around when the rebirth comes.

"If it bleeds, it leads."

That's the mantra used often to describe the news media's penchant for giving violent crime, disasters and other bad news preference over good news.

Access to more domestic crude could help sustain eastern refineries

When the president of the association that represents the refining sector in Canada calls plans by its two biggest pipeline companies to move more western Canadian crude oil to refineries in Ontario, Quebec and Eastern Canada a "win-win," that pretty well says it all.

That is how Peter Boag, who heads the Canadian Fuels Association (CFA, formerly the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute), views plans by TransCanada Corporation to spend about $5 billion to convert its mainline gas pipeline to carry crude from western Canada and the western United States to Montreal, as well as plans by Enbridge Inc. to reverse the flow of its existing Line 9 to carry western crude to Ontario and Quebec and vastly expand its existing system to move more western U.S. and Canadian crude.

In full stride, 2012 Producer of the Year Tourmaline Oil bears down on its next leap

The tide may have turned for western Canadian gas producers as minimal natural gas–supply growth and robust gas demand in power generation provides a much-needed boost to North American natural gas prices. That's a welcome development for Tourmaline Oil Corp., which is 85 per cent gas-weighted. It's also Oilweek's 2012 Producer of the Year.

Calgary's corporate oil and gas community is stepping up to push back against hunger and homelessnes

Despite a vigourous and healthy economic climate, more Albertans than ever are experiencing the pain and alienation associated with homelessness, hunger and poverty. It would seem as though Alberta's economic growth has created a double-edged sword: a lifestyle of kings for those working in the province's thriving corporate sectors, and for others—the single moms, the new Canadians, the working poor—the skyrocketing costs of living have ostensibly eroded the ability to obtain the basic necessities.

Integrated environmental services sets Tervita apart

The windows in John Gibson's nineteenth-floor office at Tervita Corporation serve multiple functions, of which letting in light is the least interesting. Providing a view of the prolific high-rise construction activity in Calgary's trendy commercial/residential southeast Beltline is slightly more intriguing. But the writing on the glass wall is what catches most people's attention.

Five key oil plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin are lighting up investors' attention

When it comes to shales and tight formations, it's no secret that producers active in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin are more and more often shunning pure gas plays. Anemic pricing is driving them to the more lucrative oil and liquids plays, and more specifically to tight oil: the National Energy Board (NEB) notes tight oil production in Canada started in the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Bakken play in 2005; by 2010 Alberta led all provinces.