Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: border crossing, Canada, emigration, freight, immigration, Mexico, transportation
via US gov.
2013 Border Crossing/Entry Data | Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alberta, Canada, China, ECA, Encana, energy, energy security, PetroChina
PetroChina Co. (857) agreed to pay Encana Corp. (ECA) C$1.18 billion ($1.2 billion) for a 49.9 percent stake in an Alberta shale formation as Asia’s biggest oil producer steps up acquisitions of overseas oil and gas assets.
via PetroChina Pays $1.2 Billion to Form Encana Joint Venture – Bloomberg.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bitumen, Canada, Canadian oil production, China, CNOOC, heavy oil, Nexen, oil sands, Petroliam Nasional, Petronas, Progress, Stephen Harper, Suncor, tar sands, unconventional oil
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper approved Cnooc Ltd. (883)’s $15.1 billion takeover of Nexen Inc. (NXY) and Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s C$5.2 billion ($5.2 billion) takeover of Progress Energy Resources Corp. (PRQ)
via Canada Approves Both Cnooc-Nexen, Petronas-Progress Deals – Bloomberg.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle infrastructure, Bike accidents, Canada, cycle tracks, cycling, risk, Teschke, toronto, traffic accidents, transportation, urban cycling
Objectives. We compared cycling injury risks of 14 route types and other route infrastructure features.
Methods. We recruited 690 city residents injured while cycling in Toronto or Vancouver, Canada. A case-crossover design compared route infrastructure at each injury site to that of a randomly selected control site from the same trip.
Results. Of 14 route types, cycle tracks had the lowest risk (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.02, 0.54), about one ninth the risk of the reference: major streets with parked cars and no bike infrastructure. Risks on major streets were lower without parked cars (adjusted OR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.41, 0.96) and with bike lanes (adjusted OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.29, 1.01). Local streets also had lower risks (adjusted OR = 0.51; 95% CI = 0.31, 0.84). Other infrastructure characteristics were associated with increased risks: streetcar or train tracks (adjusted OR = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.8, 5.1), downhill grades (adjusted OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.7, 3.1), and construction (adjusted OR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.3, 2.9).
Conclusions. The lower risks on quiet streets and with bike-specific infrastructure along busy streets support the route-design approach used in many northern European countries. Transportation infrastructure with lower bicycling injury risks merits public health support to reduce injuries and promote cycling. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 18, 2012: e1-e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300762)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Athabasca Oil Sands, bitumen, Canada, Canadian oil sands, China, CNOOC, energy, foreign control of tar sands, Foreign Investment Review Act, Jeff Rubin, Nexen, oil production, oil sands, PetroChina, Petronas, syncrude, tar sands, unconventional oil
Recall that American consumers are (strongly) encouraged to think of Canadian production as domestic production.
CNOOC’s blockbuster deal for Nexen, if nothing else, is a stark indication of how far the goal posts have moved not only for Canada’s oil patch, but also for world oil demand. Only four or five years ago, the notion that a state-owned Chinese company could buy—lock, stock and barrel of bitumen—one of Canada’s premier oil names was politically unthinkable. Any such deal was sure to be turned down by Ottawa under its Foreign Investment Review Act (not to mention the hue and cry that would come from Alberta’s provincial government).
Today, that’s all changed. CNOOC’s $15-billion offer for Nexen follows a number of major foreign transactions in Canada’s energy sector. Among others, Malaysian energy giant Petronas is paying $5.5-billion to get at Progress Energy’s natural gas reserves in British Columbia. Earlier this year, PetroChina completed a two-pronged deal for Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. that tallied $2.5-billion. In 2010, Sinopec paid $4.65-billion for a 9 percent stake in Syncrude, which runs Alberta’s largest oilsands mine.
via CNOOC’s Nexen Bid Shows How Far Goal Posts Have Moved | Jeff Rubin.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bay of Fundy, Canada, heavy water, hydrazine, nuclear accident, nuclear plant, nukes, Point Lepreau, Rzentkowski, tritium
“Heavy water…” Doesn’t sound so dangerous does it?
About 300 litres of tritiated heavy water spilled on May 21 when a valve opened too soon during pressure testing at the plant.
NB Power crews were testing the system that transfers heat from the reactor up to steam powered turbines as part of preparations to restart the plant when they overpressurized the system.
Poor planning, training led to leak
Rzentkowski said poor planning, training and human error led to the leak, which officials have said was contained in a sealed room and cleaned up without endangering staff or the environment.
“Supervisors were not trained in the operation of the test equipment. Supervisors could not provide active oversight and guidance over the test,” said Razentkowski.
…
There were two previous spills at Lepreau.
On Dec. 13, less than six litres of heavy water splashed to the floor, forcing an evacuation of the building.
The following day, NB Power issued a statement saying that three weeks earlier another spill had occurred. About 23 barrels of water laced with the toxic chemical hydrazine was released into the Bay of Fundy.
Both incidents occurred as part of preparations for restarting the plant.
via Nuclear watchdog unable to closely monitor Point Lepreau – New Brunswick – CBC News.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle racing, bike racing, Canada, chipotle, cycling, former mountain biker, Garmin-Cervelo, Giro d'Italia, mountain bike, mountain biking, MTB, Ryder Hesjedal, Tour of Italy, Vaughters, xc world champ
Vaughters said:
“His biggest strength is his ability to do a gut check and dig deep when there’s no hope,” Vaughters said. “He’s also a little bit stubborn, which can be frustrating at times.”
No hope, he says, after the guy wins the Giro. I hope Hesjedal steps up his frustration of Vaughters.
via Former Mountain Biker From Canada Wins Giro – NYTimes.com.
The sports guys are impressed that a “former mountain biker” won the Giro. Seem to have momentarily forgotten about Cadel Evans, also an xc world champ. The novelty of mountain bikers winning major road races wore off long ago among those involved in the actual races.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alberta tar sands, Canada, energy, ezra levant, foreign control of tar sands, oil sands, peak oil, tar sands, unconventional oil, Yergin
http://www.desmogblog.com/tar-sands-oil-companies-71-percent-foreign-owned-cue-ezra-levant-s-outrage
In a recent Bloomberg interview, Dan Yergin suggested we consider Canada as “not a foreign country,” thus oil from Canada is just like oil produced within the United States. Voila! Turns out oil from Canada is not even like oil from Canada.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bitumen, Canada, crude oil, economic threshold, energy, marginal price, oil, oil sands, Suncor, syncrude, tar sands, unconventional oil
More commonly, less accurately known as oil sands.
From Canada’s Energy Future (pdf), a 2011 report from the National Energy Board.
The threshold will be highly dependent on the price of natural gas.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, depletion, North Sea, Norway, OECD, Oh Heck, oil supply, OPEC, peak oil, Reguly, Saudi Arabia
Like this Eric Reguly character of the Globe and Mail:
Why hasn’t the high price triggered a production surge? The biggie, it seems, is that the non-OPEC countries are simply not up to the job. As Barclays points out, non-OPEC supply last year landed at a full one million barrels a day less than forecast by the International Energy Agency. The North Sea (whose production is shared by Britain and Norway) continued its terminal decline. Brazil and Azerbaijan were also the scenes of production disappointments.
Meanwhile, OPEC, dominated by Saudi Arabia, is sweating exceedingly hard. OPEC production volumes are at three-year highs, to the point that the cartel has only about 1.6 million barrels a day of spare capacity, and still prices are climbing.
via CTV News | All the signs point to a falling oil price – except supply.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Canada, energy, fuel taxes, gas tax, gas taxes, gasoline, oil consumption, oil demand, transportation
In 2010, per liter.
click to enlarge
See also GAS TAXES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: API, Canada, consumption, energy, fracking, imports, oil imports, oil sands, peak oil, petroleum, tar sands
…show US, though producing more and consuming less, still importing over 11 mbd in 2011, with just over 2 mbd from Canada.
Via Oil & Gas Journal.
click to enlarge
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Athabasca, Canada, China, oil sands, PetroChina, tar sands
Oil & Gas Journal: “Petrochina snaps up…”..
Throws a new light on that supplier, eh.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Alberta, Bow River, Canada, Cenex, crude oil, Enbridge, Express, North America, oil pipelines, pipelines, Rangeland, Suncor, tar sands, Trans-Mountain
Note — does not show product pipelines.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alberta, Canada, energy, Natural gas, pipeline, TransCanada
Fixed or increasing costs, declining revenue.
From the Toronto Star,
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brent, Canada, James Hamilton, pipelines, shale oil, supply, tar sands, WTI
Econbrowser: Implications of the recent rise in oil prices.
The discrepancy between Brent and WTI resulted from the increase in supply in N. America, from shale oil and Canadian tar sands.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 