Canada

The shale revolution in North America will keep chugging along in a variety of areas in the years ahead, although some of the very robust recoverable reserve estimates in some basins may be trimmed back to more realistic levels, according to the overall conclusions of a new report from Ziff Energy released Thursday.

In the wake of two derailments involving tank cars loaded with crude oil, and concern over an expected increase in crude oil shipments by rail, Canadian regulators have proposed tougher construction standards for tank cars and additional certifications.

British Columbia (BC) Premier Christy Clark used a trade mission to Japan to give formal political support this week to the industry lineup to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals on the province’s northern Pacific coast.

Only slight price changes — and no winter market spikes — are in the forecast for the 2013-14 heating season by Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB).

Canadian natural gas operator Union Gas Ltd. is holding a binding open season through Jan. 22 for up to 1 million gigajoules/day, or about 9.19 MMcf/d, of incremental firm capacity beginning in 2016 along three transportation paths that would offer access to the Dawn Hub and to Marcellus Shale supplies from Dawn, Niagara and Chippawa points. “Changing North American natural gas supply dynamics have increased market demand for Dawn to Parkway transportation capacity,” said Mark Isherwood, vice president of business development, storage and transmission. Customers in Eastern Canada and the U.S. Northeast would have access to the supply points by aligning Union service with capacity on TransCanada Corp. and interconnecting systems in the Lower 48 states. Capacity is being offered on Dawn to Parkway; Dawn to Kirkwall; and Kirkwall to Parkway. Contact Adam Stiers at astiers@uniongas.com or by fax at (519) 436-4643.

Texas ranks No. 1 globally as the best jurisdiction for oil and natural gas investment, followed by Qatar and Alberta, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual Global Petroleum Survey.

The North American natural gas and oil industry, responding primarily to surging production coming out of shale plays, will spend a total of $4.3 billion on new onshore pipelines this year, according to new research by energy adviser Douglas-Westwood (DW).

A fresh frontier for shale drilling is opening up in Canada’s Northwest Territories, a new well approval by the National Energy Board (NEB) has confirmed.

A House bill’s requirement that FERC act on border-crossing pipeline applications within 120 days of their filing has been roundly criticized by an agency staffer tasked with approving pipeline projects.