The 21st century version of the Springfield Tire Fire. I can’t wait for the day when solar arrays dot the landscape. Can you?
A fire at a solar farm in western P.E.I. is out after some battery cells burned, smouldered and flared up for two weeks.
On the day the fire started, which was the Labour Day holiday, a shelter-in-place order was issued, as well as a voluntary evacuation notice, and some roads were closed. Two schools were closed the following day.
Premier Scott Moe talks a lot about increasing oil production from 450,000 barrels per day to 600,000. It looks like Strathcona Resources will be a huge part of that increast (about a third), if they are successful in their plans. And that’s all in northwest Saskatchewan.
Strathcona Resources opens Meota Central SAGD facility, with big plans for more to come
Also, some pieces from Canadian Press on the new Build Canada Strong Act:
Liberals table bill to speed up major project approvals, avert labour disruptions
Five things to know about the Liberals’ new Building Canada Strong Act
And some more on the whole potash thing:
Moe warns ‘blood potash’ part of Trump’s planned deal with Belarus to thwart Canada
Maybe the EU’s newest “associate member” can make up the shortfall. Good luck with that in any event.
Saudi Aramco has informed at least two oil refining customers in Europe that they will receive no crude oil next month following an attack on the kingdom’s main pipeline to the Red Sea, according to a report from Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter.
BREAKING: Bell to quadruple the size of Regina AI data centre, build its own 900 MW of power generation
They haven’t even finished building the first part of its Regina data centre, yet Bell Canada will now quadruple it in size. The announcement is the largest dollar value project in Saskatchewan history, and its power consumption will equal 42 per cent of Saskatchewan’s current power generation on a mid-September day.
The power consumption will be equal to four BHP Jensen potash mines, which is to be the largest in the world. The economic impact of $50 billion will be greater that the dollar value of Saskatchewan’s provincial budget for not one, but two years, with several billion more to spare.
This is mammoth.
Also, check out today’s podcast, where Bronwyn and I got into a heavy debate with a gentleman on coal fired power generation.
The Great Coal Debate: Should Saskatchewan refurbish its coal fleet? Mitch Carlson on Ep. 44 Pipeline Online Podcast
And
Jim Warren: The more we learn about Donald Trump’s Venezuelan oil deal, the worse it looks
First of all, I’m not endorsing this video. There’s a fair bit of hyperbole. But it is also a very interesting perspective on the current trade war between the United States and Canada.
Weekend Watch: The US-Canada War has begun
Additional weekend reading:
Jim Warren: It’s kinda hard to worry about the climate when Trump’s trade war might put you out of work
Officials break ground on massive carbon capture project in central Alberta
Not sure if I posted this earlier in the week:
Pipeline Online Podcast Ep. 42: Chris Beaudry, Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources. Topics include ongoing trade war, pipelines, Venezuela, and growing Saskatchewan oil production. Beaudry will be speaking at the upcoming Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show in mid-September.
Thus far in the conflict with Iran, oil price spikes have been moderated thanks to the ongoing release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. A potential problem is that those reserves cannot be drained anywhere close to zero. If that’s the case, then we may have already hit the bottom of the barrel.
The level will drop to about 243 million if Trump releases a final batch of 39 million barrels from a March agreement with the International Energy Agency.
Siddharth Misra, a professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University, said that while the absolute physical floor for the SPR is 70 million barrels, the practical minimum level for safe operations is close to 250 million barrels.
Jim Warren: Trump’s Venezuela oil ‘deal’ might not be all that and a bag of chips.
Trump’s Venezuela deal underlines the urgency of building new export pipelines to reach non-US customers: But that doesn’t mean the universe will unfold like Trump thinks it will.
Trump announces major Venezuela oil deal, and what it means for Canada
The timing of this, in the midst of a major trade dispute between Canada and the US, as well as the impending Alberta independence referendum, if likely no coincidence. Trump may have just played his trump card, as it were. If our biggest customer of our most valuable product no longer needs or wants it, what are we to do?
A day after the federal government unveiled its new retaliatory measures against the US amid the trade war, NDP Leader Avi Lewis is calling on the Liberals to tax energy and critical mineral exports to the US.
There has been growing momentum across the political spectrum behind the idea of using Canadian exports as leverage in the dispute. In recent days, several politicians including Jean Chrétien, Jason Kenney, and David Eby have called on the Carney government to impose or consider imposing an export tax as an option for responding to US tariffs.
The Trump administration is in talks with Venezuela’s interim government about taking an ownership stake in the South American country’s enormous oil resources, two U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: The historic deal would more than double U.S. oil reserves by drawing from a country that has the world’s largest proven reserves.
August 28th.
Wanna build a data centre in Saskatchewan? Be Canadian, and bring your own power.
While the backlash has been growing, anyone who uses their cellphone for Google, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail or nearly any other major app is, in fact, using a data centre. The online protests about data centre quite literally use data centres to make their posts. If you use a smartphone, you are using data centres.
Moe: “We cannot in any way support the adding of export tariffs on a product like oil”
“Again, this is only a function of a flawed policy discussion that we have had in this nation over the course of the last decade or better, where we see those very, in all too often, those very same individuals that are promoting export tariffs on a product like oil, 10 years ago, were the very same individuals standing up and saying we should not build important energy security infrastructure like the Energy East Pipeline.” – Scott Moe
Think about this: The top three contributors to Saskatchewan’s GDP is oil, potash and ag, with oil and potash vying for top spot (usually it’s oil, but potash might beat it this year). If we put an export tax on any of those, we’re shooting ourself through the foot, floor, and neighbour’s ceiling in the apartment below us.
Op-Ed: Christina Turnbull: More Than Megawatts: A Power Worker’s View of Saskatchewan’s Coal Transition
Jim Warren: Uncertainty abounds in our tumultuous times: It’s starting to negatively affect the quality of oil market analysis
A look back at the Keystone XL pipeline drama as Trump touts its potential revival
Trump boasts Keystone XL as trade talk win. It’s not clear it was ever off the table.
N.S. premier says U.S. trade dispute a ‘wake-up call’ for economic diversification
What does the mammoth Newfoundland/Quebec hydro and wind deal mean for Saskatchewan’s nuclear ambitions?
Posted on Donald Trump’s official Truth Social on Tuesday night:
“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL! The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Here’s what it means for Saskatchewan and the oil industry:
Trump says trade deal reached, and Keystone XL “May be awoken from the grave”
It’s the physics, stupid.
Can renewables fully replace denser forms of energy?
Geologist Scott Tinker breaks down why energy density matters and how renewables fit into a diversified global energy portfolio, but why they won’t replace energy-dense fuels. pic.twitter.com/jgxz4TyIrQ
— TRIGGERnometry (@triggerpod) August 4, 2026
Pipeline Online Podcast is now on Spotify
Sometimes, when you’re a one man band, it’s hard to find time to play the trumpet while you’re also playing the tuba. And such, it has taken much longer than it should have to get the Pipeline Online Podcast connected with Spotify in such a way that included the video.
It only took about 20 hours to upload the back catalog.
Also:
The good professor wanted me to print a rebuttal. So I did.
Op-Ed: Brett Dolter: A rebuttal to coal analysis by Pipeline Online
and
Pembina Pipeline says West Coast pipeline stake fits into its broader strategy
NDP claim coal refurbishments will cost even more, while SaskPower minister tours Boundary Dam and Estevan mine
On a day when the Minister Responsible for SaskPower was touring the work done on the coal-fired Boundary Dam Power Station Unit 4 and the nearby Estevan coal mine, the Saskatchewan NDP was quoting another number, their highest yet, as an estimated cost of the coal refurbishments. But what are those numbers based on?
Pipeline Online digs into that analysis, and finds the scenarios each to have significant flaws.
Also:
Jim Warren: Why the biggest oil supply crisis in history hasn’t produced the highest crude prices in recent history
Pipeline Online Podcast Ep. 40: James Baker of Helium Evolution
Helium Evolution is an active player in the Saskatchewan helium space. Helium is one of the materials dramatically affected by the Iran War. James Baker is chair of Helium Evolution and one if its founders. It’s all about rockets, MRIs and high tech, not balloons.
Here’s a sample:
Also:
Construction begins on $4-billion Enbridge natural gas pipeline expansion in B.C.
Nemeth Report: US Grid Crisis Exposed Virtual Power Plants, NE Instability & Shorting the Grid with Meredith Angwin
