TPT May 2009

From the AmericaS

of Suncor, who will head up the new company, asserted at a news conference, “This will truly be a flagship corporation, which will compete with the best in the world.” Mr George also made reference to something that still rankles many Canadians: the leveraged buyouts that, in the period of rising markets, saw several of Canada’s largest corporations pass into foreign control. He pointed out that the merger of Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy meant that two of the country’s largest oil companies would not – unlike its steel industry and many of its largest mining companies – come under foreign ownership. Of related interest . . . › US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on 25 February that he was scrapping leases for oil-shale development on federal land in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. His department had already, on 4 February, cancelled leases to drill for gas and oil on 77 parcels of public land in Utah. The Utah leases, covering more than 100,000 acres, were put up for bidding in December during the waning days of the George W Bush administration. The auctions were among eleventh-hour actions taken by the Bush Interior Department that are under review by officials reporting to President Barack Obama. The cancellations mean that the government will forfeit at least $6 million in bidders’ fees. While Mr Salazar did not rule out future

drilling on the lands if warranted by a feasibility study, environmental advocacy groups hailed the new thinking in the Interior Department. But the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States expressed ‘grave concerns’ over the direction of the new administration. Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for the nonprofit association representing natural gas and oil producers in the Intermountain West, said, “This is going to make it more difficult to develop the natural gas resources we need for our nation’s energy security.” Pipelines Two competing projects for Alaska are scrutinized in light of the long-term prospects for natural gas The lead-time for commissioning a new pipeline is so long – ten years, at conservative estimate – as almost to rule out conjecture about market conditions when the oil or gas is flowing. A decade out, what will customers be buying? What price will it command? Will the political leadership of that time be friend or foe to the industry? The emphasis placed by US President Barack Obama on cleaner fuels does nothing to mitigate the uncertainties of any major pipeline project. It does invite attention to two pipelines under consideration for the state of Alaska, only one of which is likely to be built. The

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