XPost: can.politics, ont.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: bc.politics   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   No kidding?  Another province doesn't want to become a vulnerable pathway for   
   the exports of tarsands oil and gas?  And an increase of tankers in the Great   
   Lakes and St. Lawrence River?  Just for the profit of foreign oil companies   
   operating in Alberta's tarsands?   
      
   See second article on Suncor already sneaking bitumen-carrying tankers into the   
   St. Lawrence.   
   _________________________________________   
   — CP — Oct 15 2014   
      
      
   TransCanada Energy East faces pushback   
      
   MONTREAL - Pushback is building in Quebec over TransCanada Corp.'s $12-billion,   
   cross-country project to convert a natural gas pipeline to oil, just weeks   
   before the company files its formal proposal with the national energy   
   regulator.   
      
   Quebec's largest natural gas distributor, Gaz Metro, plans to enlist the   
   support of the provincial government to oppose the project that it says will   
   lead to supply shortages, higher prices and threaten Quebec's economic growth.   
      
   "The project in its current version is problematic as it will impede the   
   possibility for natural gas users to have access to the necessary capacities   
   once the conversion happens," spokeswoman Marie-Christine Demers said after Gaz   
   Metro made its case last week to the province's energy regulator.   
      
   She said the company plans to push the government to intervene when the   
   proposal goes before the National Energy Board for approval.   
      
   Specifically, Gaz Metro said the conversion of the 3,300-kilometre Energy East   
   pipeline between Alberta and Quebec will reduce the supply of natural gas for   
   customers during peak winter months and for economic development.   
      
   Energy East would be one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Canadian   
   history, crossing six provinces and traversing 4,600 kilometres in total.   
   Roughly two-thirds of it would make use of underused natural gas pipe that's   
   already in the ground, with new pipe being built through Quebec and New   
   Brunswick. The idea is to connect oilsands crude to eastern refineries and to   
   export some of the oil by tanker.   
      
   TransCanada (TSX:TRP) said the project will remove the 20 per cent excess   
   natural gas capacity on the eastern network that is destined for export to the   
   U.S. northeast, and it has plans to build more lines to meet any increased   
   demand.   
      
   "We're taking nothing away from the Canadian domestic demand," said Karl   
   Johannson, executive vice-president of natural gas pipelines.   
      
   The Calgary-based company plans to build a parallel Eastern Mainline pipeline   
   that will stretch for a few hundred kilometres in southern Ontario, to carry   
   natural gas to consumers in Quebec and Ontario.   
      
   "TransCanada has served the natural gas market for over 60 years...If there is   
   growth we will make sure the facilities are there for growth."   
      
   But Gaz Metro said the pipeline section between North Bay, in northeastern   
   Ontario, and Ottawa is now fully used by customers at peak winter periods. It   
   also sees reduced capacity driving up costs for consumers, who would also be on   
   the hook to absorb more than $1.5 billion in infrastructure costs to build the   
   parallel pipeline.   
      
   Ontario's Union Gas and Enbridge Gas Distribution have also raised similar   
   concerns about the Energy East conversion.   
      
   Johannson said he understands that local natural gas distributors want to   
   maintain surplus capacity, but that comes with costs both for natural gas   
   customers and the unrealized economic benefits of sending 1.1 million barrels   
   of crude oil per day to refineries in Quebec and New Brunswick.   
      
   "By not repurposing this capacity, Canadians and Quebecers lose a lot," he said   
   in an interview.   
      
   A Deloitte study said the conversion will boost the Canadian GDP by $35 billion   
   over 20 years, add $10 billion in taxes, support 10,000 jobs and help eastern   
   refineries.   
      
   The developers of a $1.6-billion fertilizer plant in Becancour, Que., said its   
   project — which is one year behind schedule because of its difficulty to lock   
   up natural gas supplies — is at risk unless it can obtain a reliable supply   
   of   
   natural gas.   
      
   David Tournier, vice-president of legal affairs for IFFCO Canada, says the   
   project's shareholders are growing impatient by the delays in the regulatory   
   dispute.   
      
   "Without gas, there can be no plant. Our plant transforms natural gas into   
   fertilizer and we settled in Quebec to have access to that gas at a time where   
   there was no issue."   
      
   Tournier said IFFCO isn't taking a position on the Energy East conversion but   
   is awaiting an NEB decision on a tariff hike TransCanada has sought to provide   
   access through southern Ontario to cheaper U.S. Marcellus shale natural gas.   
      
   Regulatory approval this year could allow construction of the fertilizer plant   
   to begin in 2015 for a 2018 opening.   
      
   TransCanada said it has incorporated IFFCO's natural gas needs into its supply   
   plans and would provide the energy from Western Canada even if the NEB turns   
   down its tariff request.   
      
   Also on Wednesday, the Quebec government announced it would not allow the   
   company to resume exploratory drilling in eastern Quebec because it had failed   
   to submit an "acceptable" alternative to its work methods.   
      
   The Environment Department told TransCanada last week to devise a plan that   
   would provide for less noise because of belugas in the area.   
      
   The department said Wednesday the company has not met the demand.   
   _____________________________________   
   | October 9, 2014 http://rabble.ca/   
      
   Suncor sneaks tar sands tankers into St. Lawrence and Great Lakes   
      
   Suncor is setting a precedent around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River   
   Basin with its new shipments of bitumen on the St. Lawrence River.  On   
   September 24, the first ever tanker to ship bitumen on the Great Lakes and St.   
   Lawrence River Basin left the port of Sorel-Tracey in Quebec.   
      
   http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/making-waves/2014/10/suncor-snea   
   s-tar-sands-tankers-st-lawrence-and-great-lakes   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)