Monday, March 31, 2008

Alberta Crude up to 1.05 per barrel.

Oil is up to 1.05 US a barrel!

Under the Conservatives hidden oil royalty rates that works out to:

Alberta gets 19.95
Oil Company gets 85.05


John Clark

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Alberta Innovation Fund????


Alberta spending more millions on the oil industry in new found projects. Still no money for municipal projects.


Friday, March 28, 2008

Bitumen, and plenty of jobs, heading south to U.S.

Bitumen, and plenty of jobs, heading south to U.S.Tories making a huge mistake not upgrading more, and 'scraping off the topsoil'
Diana Gibson and David ThompsonMonday, March 24
"Our product is steel, our strength is people." So goes the motto of one Canadian steel company.
What would Alberta's motto be? "Our export is oil; our other export is jobs."
And now it looks like even more jobs will be flowing flow south to the U.S., along with Alberta's non-renewable resources.

The U.S. State Department has just given its approval to the Keystone pipeline, which will eventually ship 590,000 barrels per day of Alberta oil to the U.S.

It's already been given the nod by Canada's National Energy Board, which also recently approved the Alberta Clipper pipeline which can carry 800,000 barrels per day.
This is enormous capacity. To give a sense of scale, these two pipelines alone will exceed Alberta's total 2006 oil exports -- all of it. They have more capacity than the current total production of the tarsands.

Those pipelines can export either bitumen from the tarsands, or upgraded product. And American refineries are already retrofitting to receive and upgrade Alberta's bitumen -- along with all the jobs that would entail.

Exporting raw resources means exporting jobs. In fact, according to a consultant's report for a recent Energy Board hearing, even one 450,000 bpd pipeline can send 18,000 jobs south along with that bitumen.

Those well-paid jobs are critical to families, communities and the province. Without the job-creating, "value-added" processing, oil and gas extraction is one of the lowest jobs-per-output industries in Canada.

Many Albertans know this is a problem. And they've been speaking out about it for some time now. So much so that in 2006, one Tory party leadership candidate made a promise to address it, saying: "Shipping raw bitumen is like scraping off the topsoil, selling it, and thinking we have a rich farm because we have cash in the bank."

He even pointed out the obvious, "Once it's gone, it's gone for good."
While campaigning, he talked about increasing the amount of bitumen upgraded in the province. That candidate's name was, of course, Ed Stelmach.
But when he became premier, nothing happened on the raw bitumen exports file. Then value-added processing was included within the scope of Alberta's recent royalty review.

The government's own hand-picked panel surprised everyone with its recommendations, which included a rebate on royalties for processing in-province.
However, Premier Stelmach's government chose to ignore that recommendation, instead promising vague action sometime in the future. Still, nothing happened on the raw bitumen exports file.

Then the news came out last month that the Clipper pipeline was approved, and possibly 18,000 jobs would flow down to the United States. Many voices said the government should do something.

Still nothing happened.

Instead Stelmach claimed that 72 per cent of bitumen would be processed in Alberta by 2016 with upgrader plans already on the books. So obviously, there would be no need for government to act.

Wrong. Without government action, there is no guarantee that those upgraders will be built in Alberta. Quite the contrary. The lack of government regulation, in conjunction with runaway inflation -- also caused by government-without-a-plan -- has already resulted in some upgrader projects being shelved. More will likely follow.

Instead of those upgraders being built in Alberta, U.S. based refineries are installing upgraders, which will create thousands of long-term, well-paying jobs -- in the U.S.
And every time the capacity for upgrading and refining bitumen is stepped up in the U.S., the job loss in Alberta is permanent. When facilities are built elsewhere, companies have no incentive to build them here. And NAFTA makes it hard to bring those jobs home.
As Stelmach said, once it is gone, it's gone for good.
Few premiers have been courageous enough to make value-added jobs a priority. Perhaps only one has.

Peter Lougheed created an Alberta-first employment policy. He required natural gas exports to contribute to building the petrochemical industry in Alberta. This value-added strategy built that industry -- an industry with good, family-supporting jobs.

Sadly for many Alberta families, Ralph Klein rolled back the value-added processing rules, and good jobs started flowing south again.

And Stelmach has put himself squarely in Klein's camp. The recent oilpatch calls to slow the pace of tarsand leases (calls that are supported by broader public opinion) were rebuffed by Stelmach, who said his government will not "control" the economy. This is consistent with the laissez-faire approach that has allowed raw resources and jobs to flow south.

In other words, nothing has happened to curtail that flow, and now it looks like nothing will happen.

Pipelines will continue to take bitumen to the U.S., and soon there will be more of them. Upgraders will continue to be built -- in the U.S. And sadly, good Alberta jobs will continue to flow south.

Diana Gibson is Research Director for the Parkland Institute.
David Thompson is an independent public policy consultant.

The Parkland Institute is a charitable, non-partisan research network based at the University of Alberta

********************************************************************PARKLAND INSTITUTE - website http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland Edmonton Office: 11045 Saskatchewan Drive, T6G 2E1Phone: (780) 492-8558 Fax:(780) 492-8738 email: parkland@ualberta.ca Calgary Office: 2919 - 8 Avenue NW, T2N 1C8 Phone: (403) 270-9669 Fax (403) 283-6480 email: parkcalg@ualberta.ca

Alberta in the middle of the waste.

We hear of 60% of the bats dieing on the east coast of the US and in Texas. A huge boost for insects! We read that oxygen depleated "dead" spots are showing up on the west coast of Canada and the US. Oceans dying is part of the long cycle of the ice age. Over the past couple of years we have read about the bee population dying for no apparent reason, same as the bats. Then to top it off we read the southern ice cap is slipping into the ocean at a great pace.

One has to wonder what we are doing and when the chase the buck mentality is going to curb.

As if a bright spot, the Alberta Government anounces they are going to sump or bury Carbon dioxide under the coal at Sundance. This is curious to say the least. The gas has to be pumped down over 2000 feet in order to get enought pressure to hold it down there!. There are no deep strata formations around Sundance. This appears to be another PR deal by Stelmach.

An American writer repored in the Edmonton Journal that we will all perish before any real changes take place!

Then, a real bright spot! AESO are getting an award for intergrating wind power in Alberta. In effect doing much better than their peers. This should be a cause for a celebration some place.

John Clark

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Alberta wealth going south of the border; big time!

Mar. 27, 2008 (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --
On Wednesday we examined how well Canada stands as investors unlock their bank accounts and jump back into stocks. Much of the fortunes up north may depend on commodity prices.
Taking a look at Canada's recent winners, we see lots of natural resources companies, such as oil and gas, gold and silver, base metals, and wheat.
Prices for these raw goods recently plunged after major run-ups, so passing on a gold mine or an oil driller may have been smart.
Still, that's Canada's specialite du maison.
So let's start with oil and gas.
EnCana ECA, a big cap based in Calgary, is one of the biggest holders of onshore oil and gas properties in North America. The company was on Tuesday's IBD Big Cap 20.
Natural gas accounts for 80% of EnCana's (NYSE:ECA) output. But it hasn't ignored crude.
One of the company's projects is a joint effort with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) COP. The result is an integrated stream.
It starts with heavy oil extracted from Canadian oil sands (or tar sands) in northeast Alberta. That's EnCana's ballpark.
It wants to raise output to 400,000 barrels a day by 2015. It's now at 50,000 bpd.
"Downstream," that heavy oil is refined at ConocoPhillips' refineries in Roxana, Ill., and Borger, Texas.
EnCana has put up some choppy earnings results. In the past four quarters, it reported gains of 49%, 55%, 4% and 116%.
Estimates for the current period are for a 13% gain. Sales have come in with gains of 43%, 39% and 58% in the past three quarters.
Margins and return on equity improved in 2007 from the prior year. But a concern is that analysts' estimates for 2008 are for a 13% earnings decline.Newstex ID: IBD-0001-24048124

Alberta better jobs head for the US Big Time!

Mar. 27, 2008 (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) --
On Wednesday we examined how well Canada stands as investors unlock their bank accounts and jump back into stocks. Much of the fortunes up north may depend on commodity prices.
Taking a look at Canada's recent winners, we see lots of natural resources companies, such as oil and gas, gold and silver, base metals, and wheat.

Prices for these raw goods recently plunged after major run-ups, so passing on a gold mine or an oil driller may have been smart.

Still, that's Canada's specialite du maison.
So let's start with oil and gas.

EnCana ECA, a big cap based in Calgary, is one of the biggest holders of onshore oil and gas properties in North America. The company was on Tuesday's IBD Big Cap 20.
Natural gas accounts for 80% of EnCana's (NYSE:ECA) output. But it hasn't ignored crude.

One of the company's projects is a joint effort with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) COP. The result is an integrated stream.
It starts with heavy oil extracted from Canadian oil sands (or tar sands) in northeast Alberta. That's EnCana's ballpark.
It wants to raise output to 400,000 barrels a day by 2015. It's now at 50,000 bpd.
"Downstream," that heavy oil is refined at ConocoPhillips' refineries in Roxana, Ill., and Borger, Texas.
EnCana has put up some choppy earnings results. In the past four quarters, it reported gains of 49%, 55%, 4% and 116%.
Estimates for the current period are for a 13% gain. Sales have come in with gains of 43%, 39% and 58% in the past three quarters.
Margins and return on equity improved in 2007 from the prior year. But a concern is that analysts' estimates for 2008 are for a 13% earnings decline.Newstex ID: IBD-0001-24048124

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Public Schooling to be marginalized while the private schools expand.

Under fund; close facilities and create a problem. (Remember the hospitals?) Then, point the general public to the cure in this case, private schools. More and more you are going to hear this Government tell you the existing schools (all public) do not meet some criteria or another and/or the funding is just not there to keep them going. The whole scenario is to instill more private schools.

Alberta already has the highest number of private schools in Canada!

They have invented the school credit that goes with the child to which ever school they enroll in. Keeping choices and facilities short the funding and the children are directed to private schools.

If you are one of the people who didn’t vote or voted for these characters, you deserve it.

John Clark

Heritage trust fund on the way out!

The announcement of the amalgamation of the credit unions into one large company with Mr. Jim Dinning heading up the board of the yet to be named company puts all the pieces in place. There goes the farm!

Mr. Dinning who is also the chair of the Western Financial Group will be the person who controls the purse strings on the Alberta Heritage and Savings Trust fund.

One has to wonder what kind of transparency will be provided to Albertans as to the health and well being of this fund and, what access will there be by this province. How much is it going to cost us to turn this money over to a private company? You can bet at the end of the day the Conservatives Friends will be much richer and the province will be much poorer.

John Clark

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Man could face jail for venting.

Man could get 5 years for venting against the Premiers office!

This Government has gone through more than a dozen years of lying, cheating and conniving as they rip this province apart, selling it for pennies on the dollar of value.

When an individual feels his life has hit a wall and his future is destroyed by this Government’s irresponsible policies the Government adds “Bully” to its list of habits.

This Government who uses the police forces and if need be the army to enforce an industrial agenda are only too happy to play their bully role in the courts. No folks, this isn’t China!

After crooking the electoral system so they continue to win majorities with only 22 percent of the vote (too regular to be random) it is a small wonder they are not facing a full fledged armed uprising!

John Clark

Monday, March 17, 2008

Air Condition time in Alberta = 39 cents/hour

A rated 2 ton air conditioner (built in) is standard for houses up to 1200 or 1300 square feet.
Rule of thumb which works is 1 ton for every 600 sq foot of building. 1 ton = 12,000 BTU.

An efficient 2 ton built in unit cost of operation:

Power: 208 Volts at 13.5 amp = 2808 watts/hour of use.
Power Line charge .02
Power Contract .09
Power charge delivered 11 cents per kwh

Furnace motor efficient or semi efficient 7 amps @ 110 volt = 770 watts/hour

Total operational power 3578 watt/hour
Total operational cost 3.578 kwh X .11 per kwh = 39.3 cents per hour
This works out to 3.93 for 10 hours of continuous operation.

With reasonable insulation and decent windows one can reasonably expect a 60% duty cycle.

Providing your furnace fan shuts down with the air conditioning, this would leave you a bottom line of $2.36 per day for air conditioning.

Having said this, I see where ENMAX has again increased their contract rate and incorporated a per month charge on the same path the EPCOR has found a success.

Between their monthly increase and their add on charges they have again increased their rates 1 cent by 25%. On the other hand, EPCOR seems to be down by nearly 1 cent. Will have to look close at their add on charges.

John Clark

Friday, March 14, 2008

Nuclear Power - Bruce Power and the Peace River

The Bruce Power plan for Peace River seems to be gaining momentum!
Spokesmen for Bruce Power say they are going to take their considerable water needs from the Peace River and there is no talk of putting any of it back.

The Peace River is under the Navigable Water Protection Act. Approvals to move water from it or build pipe lines in or around it must come from Ottawa, Transport Canada!

With Harper in charge you can be very sure it will rubber stamped through!

John Clark

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Nuclear Plants for Alberta - 4 of them!

Duke power sees 4 nuclear power plants for Alberta.
Appreciate they will have talked to both the Federal and Provincial Conservatives before publishing an article like this!
1. They are saying Alberta residences will be paying competing prices with oil sands projects.
2. They are planning 4000 megawatts of electricty increasing Alberta's power grid by 50%
3. They are abandoning the Canadian "safe" reactor in favor of world market. That is, down and dirty.

John Clark

Friday, March 07, 2008

Harper to Axe Social Programs!


Taking his lead from Stelmach, Stephen Harper plans on axing social programs in order to reduce the size and expense of Government. Turning the screws, an article by Murray Dobbin who quotes Tom Flanagn, Harper's former Chief of Staff.

Bean spiller: Tom Flanagan, former Harper chief of staff
Perhaps you won't blow your vote next time around?
John Clark

Thursday, March 06, 2008

1.4 billion in promises to be paid for by you!

Newspaper reports say that Stelmach made 1.4 billion dollars in promises and continued to suggest there is no money in the revenues to pay for this.

This in turn opens the door for Stelmach to charge the people of this province more for goods and services or his last choice in tax.

The tar sands are producing more than 1 million barrels per day. The price of oil is above 1.00 per barrel. Stelmach reduced the royalty from 25% to 19% a difference of 6 percent.

At 1.00 a barrel price on oil that will be 6 cents per barrel reduction.
He gave away 60,000 dollars per day of our royalty to oil companies and continues to do so.

That is 22 million dollars a year he gave up because he thought it was enough for Alberta.

When he comes after you for more money tell him to get it off the oil we give away.

John Clark

Alberta -- Owned and operated by oil.

Prices are escalating in houses, store front buildings, utilities and the cost of living generally. Pensions and wages are not keeping up and the Conservatives have abandoned the average citizen.

Let the market prevail and those who can’t afford the market should move. That is the conservative way.

The result will be a segment of the population being forced to sell and move from this province leaving it to those people employed in oilfield service or the oil industry.

This government is facilitating the total take over of the province by the oil industry. It is now okay to employ people out of Mexico and abroad and put them up in hovels. Many of these people are abandoning Alberta in favor of their homes.

The fault in this case falls directly on those people who thought it not worthwhile to vote coupled with a crooked voting system. I guess it is a time to fight.

“I’ll say it a dozen times, people have to remember that the Oil Sands are owned by the people, they’re not owned by the oil companies.”- Peter Lougheed, Prime Minister of Alberta 1971-1985
John Clark

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Alberta Royalty Benchmark

Put the crooks to the test:
The last royalty agreement made public was 25% on mature projects; 1% only during construction.

Stelmach in secret reduced the royalty to 19%. The lowest in the world by far! The 1% remains the same.

Then, he promised a 20% increase in royalty allowing oil companies to pay “part in kind” with crude. The latter to be given to the phantom up-graders.

If he is good to his word and I’m sure you will find he is not he will announce the royalty has been increased from 25% to 45%. The 45% is still at the bottom of the world in price.

If he comes out with a straight statement as in "we are going to increase" with no start or end numbers you know full well he is lying through his teeth!
Keep in mind insiders have told me it is their intention to further reduce the 19%

John Clark

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Conservatives win by steath.

The numbers are coming in. The conservatives ran this election the same way they did the last election.

Make up a bunch of outright lies to go into an election on.
Do not show up for any all candidate forums.
Hide from all people who look like they may have a question.
Have security at the door to week out potential serious questions.

With less than 50% of eligible voters turning out they managed to win a huge majority with about 24% of the eligible vote.

When I hear of seniors being mistreated I will first ask “and who did you vote for?”

When I hear of atrocities in the medical arena; who did you vote for?

When in 2009 the interest rates go through the roof and these sit on your ass and let some one else do it types loose their homes and their savings there will be no tear from me. I’ll make them an offer as is the conservative way.

John Clark
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