Tag: pipelines

Living on borrowed time, Ring of Fire and a pipeline to where??

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 8 Comments

Coal Revival: From living on borrowed time to once again having a future: United Mine Workers of America Local 7606. This is a powerful story about coal, Estevan, Saskatchewan, SaskPower and Westmoreland.

Pipeline Online Podcast Ep. 13: Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister for the Ring of Fire. Are we Can’tada?

Danielle Smith and Doug Ford gave a press conference just before Bronwyn and I went online with Monday’s podcast, conveniently with the Ontario minister responsible for the Ring of Fire. Something came out of Ford that REALLY caught my eye.

He was talking about a deepwater port on James Bay. That’s the dangly part of Hudson Bay that happens to be really close, relatively speaking, to Ring of Fire.

No details have come out yet, but we have to remember this – there is no road, no railroad, no pipeline, NOTHING to James Bay. That area of northern Ontario might as well be the moon, which is why it has been so hard to get a GRAVEL road built to the Ring of Fire. I was shocked, yes, gravel. A multi billion dollar development to rival Fort McMurray and you’re going to have a gravel road???? And they talked about possibly a pipeline to said port, which will be conjured up from thin air. (Maybe they should build a paved road, first?)

What does this mean for Saskatchewan? Now there are potentially three ports in play on Hudson/James Bay? As I wrote last week, without a fleet of icebreakers at over $3 billion a pop, any port on Hudson Bay is a fool’s errand, at least for shipping oil.

But it seems Ontario is now serious about a new oil pipeline, entirely in Canada, to replace Enbridge Line 5.

And Premier Moe spoke a while back about any pipeline through Saskatchewan being automatically approved. Not sure what he meant by that, but is that why he didn’t need to take part in this press conference, since he was present at Stampede?

I didn’t have time to dig into all of this, but maybe I’ll do a column on it later this week. Here’s the Canadian Press stories about it.

Premiers Danielle Smith and Doug Ford agree to study new energy corridors, more trade

Ontario Premier Doug Ford pitches railway to Ring of Fire, Alberta is on board – Note, this is the first major rail project I’ve heard about, well, since I was born. Is this why the Sask NDP talk about rail projects, using EVRAZ steel?

Alberta to hold nuclear power consultations as reactor companies weigh opportunities

That column about Hudson Bay I referred to: Brian Zinchuk: Let’s get serious about shipping oil from Hudson Bay

I updated it with an animation of sea ice from last year to show how serious of an issue it is. https://pipeline-online-v1750862700.websitepro-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Hudson-Bay-Ice-Gif.gif

LNG Canada goes online and how that impacts Saskatchewan

Drill, Baby, Drill 3 Comments
First ship leaving LNG Canada. LNG Canada photo

LNG Canada ships first cargo, making Canada a global player.

I provide some analysis on how this will impact Saskatchewan in the first part of the story.

Also:

Poilievre posts “Meet Hardisty” video about and its importance to Canada

Donald Trump’s disdain for wind energy could create windfall for Nova Scotia: experts

Energy Realities Podcast: Geopolitical issues and oil. Some interesting discussion about Carney killing the digital services tax to placate Trump, forgoing this thing called “rule of law.”

Well, that didn’t last long…

Drill, Baby, Drill 16 Comments

So much for Canada becoming an “energy superpower.” With additional pipelines to the west coast, the idea is dead in its tracks. Eby says he won’t be changing mind on another B.C. pipeline, rebuffing Ford

But but but – everyone was so happy about their confab with the new prime minister.

Premiers heap praise on meeting with Carney, but no specific projects identified.

And from the day before the meeting:

Carney discusses “partnerships” with oil and gas executives in Calgary

So much for team Canada. On CJME Tuesday morning Premier Moe said he was “done” with trying to get a pipeline built through Quebec.

And for something completely different:

You can’t hide these smiles. Lock and load

There’s more to the oilpatch than just work. You can’t hide these smiles. Lock and load

New Liberal Energy Minister sends different message

Climate Cult Drill, Baby, Drill 21 Comments

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, verbatim

In Pipeline Online’s continuing mission to tell you exactly what the federal Liberal government is saying on energy and environmental policy, this is the verbatim speech of the new Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson, who spoke at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on May 23. In this case, the ministry was kind enough to provide the transcript online, indicating this is a message they really, really want to get out there.

And it is worth taking in. This guy sounds NOTHING like Wilkinson or Guilbeault. He promises reviews in 2 years, not 5. Wilkinson wanted to keep it in the ground.

You can also watch it in the link provided in the story on CPAC’s YouTube channel. I encourage you to take the time to do so. It’s cued up to start at his speech, but if you want to hear his background, which including working on the financing for the Alliance Pipeline, rewind a bit and hear a glowing introduction from the CEO of Suncor.

Notably, the Alliance Pipeline he mentioned financing was the last major pipeline project I worked on. I started work three weeks after my wedding. And out of the 12 guys on my road bore crew, I was the only one married once.

—–

For giggles, if you want to see who the Anti-Zinchuk is, this is a video from Markham Hislop. He posts daily videos hating everything about the Canadian energy sector, from every angle imaginable. In this video he shoots down the idea Hodgson speaks of regarding Canada becoming an energy superpower. Didn’t Harper come up with that? That’s right, he did.

 

It got 14000 views in less than a day, and 255 comments.

YARN | I hate that guy! | Despicable Me (2010) | Video gifs by quotes | 018ef568 | 紗

Be sure to check out the Pipeline Online Podcast at 1 p.m. Monday, May 26, live on X, LinkedIn and Facebook, with guest Ken From, former CEO of SaskEnergy, TSASK, PTRC, and Prairie Hunter Energy. 

 

We now know how much SMRs cost. A lot

Drill, Baby, Drill 32 Comments

This week seems to be dominated by power generation pieces. The announcement in Ontario on Thursday has enormous implications for Saskatchewan, as we’re finally getting a price tag on how much four GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors cost. The cost is $20.9 billion, equal to the ENTIRE Saskatchewan 2025 budget. And we’re still very early on in the process, so there’s plenty of time for cost overruns. And we would need four, actually five, to replace our existing coal fleet of 1400 megawatts. The question before Saskatchewan will soon be can we afford nuclear? And if not, do we run coal – even perhaps expand it as our power needs grow?

Ontario greenlights four SMRs identical to the model SaskPower has chosen.

Here’s the verbatim Ontario press release:

Ontario Leads the G7 by Building First Small Modular Reactor

Other news about Saskatchewan oil producers from Canadian Press:

Cenovus Energy reports $859M Q1 profit, raises quarterly dividend

Canadian Natural Resources reports Q1 profit up, record quarterly average production

Pembina Pipeline reports higher profits, revenues for first quarter

Power from Manitoba? And a vote for seccession

Drill, Baby, Drill SKExit Western Separatism 22 Comments

Manitoba Hydro ends two US contracts, seeks to sell power to Nunavut and possibly Saskatchewan

Before the Manitoba premier pulls out of US contracts, maybe he should have lined up a willing buyer? Because he really, really wants to sell power to Saskatchewan now, according to the press conference I listened to late Monday. Are we going to buy? Be sure to read his comments about neighbours paying mortgages…

Manitoba Hydro ends two US contracts, seeks to sell power to Nunavut and possibly Saskatchewan

Jim Warren once again knocks it out of the park.

Jim Warren: Manning said a vote for the Carney Liberals is a vote for Western secession. And he’s right.

I was interviewed in January at a Calgary conference by Robbie Picard. This is that interview, just published Monday:

“We need to diversify our markets. We need to get to other places.”

Canadian Press

Canada’s LNG industry set to take flight as interest reignites in Alaska megaproject

I anticipate Canadian natural gas prices are going to go up as a result. Good for producers, great for Alberta and BC. Not so good for SaskPower, businesses and home owners who need heat.

Poilievre promises an energy corridor to the coasts

Drill, Baby, Drill 21 Comments

Poilievre’s key energy policy: a National Energy Corridor for pipe, power and rail. Here’s his speech, verbatim.

The reality is, we largely have a such a corridor already from Moose Jaw to a third of the way through Ontario. It’s Quebec and New Brunswick that are the issue.

And just a couple hours after Poilievre spoke, we recorded this with Andrew Scheer:

Pipeline Online Podcast, Ep. 6: Andrew Scheer on a National Energy Corridor and a whole lot more, including tariffs, Clean Electricity Regulations and coal-fired power.

Nuclear supply chain being developed in Saskatchewan, tariffs

Drill, Baby, Drill 15 Comments

Westinghouse in SK, Part 3: Westinghouse signs MOUs with six Saskatchewan companies

BIG NEWS: Westinghouse in SK, Part 3: Westinghouse signs MOUs with six Saskatchewan companies. When they say modular, they mean modular.

Despite Thursday’s partial tariff reprieve, Saskatchewan still cutting off US alcohol sales and procurement. This story is moving so fast, I had to update it twice before publishing. It might be out of date by Friday morning.

South Bow says tariffs could create challenges in its marketing segment (this is the spin-off company from TC Energy that operates Keystone Pipeline)

ROK Resources releases 2025 budget guidance, CEO discuss possible tariff impacts

How to potentially bankrupt a province

Drill, Baby, Drill 34 Comments

Brian Zinchuk: How much might building SMRs cost Saskatchewan Hint: it’s not cheap.

This is a major piece talking about the costs that could be incurred building small modular reactors. Those costs could be unobtainable, which is why coal is back on the table in a big way.

The numbers come from the Tennessee Valley Authority, who already operate three nuclear plants and is the largest utility in the US. They plan on building the same model of reactor.

Also:

Moe proclaims pipeline projects “pre-approved,” Smith joins in.

I’m not sure how a provincial government can pre-approve something it has no regulatory power over.

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