Canada NEWS

As Canada’s energy sector struggles with sluggish growth, the layoff trend continues with the latest layoffs coming from Husky Energy. The firm laid off a number of employees yesterday, spokeswoman for Husky said. The sackings come a day right after the federal election in Canada, where Prime Minister Trudeau failed to secure an outright majority of seats. Concerns of further delay in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion are now worrying the industry.

Canadian EPC major, SNC-Lavalin has secured a contract from Shell Australia for the provision of operations and maintenance workforce for the QGC upstream asset. The three-year-long contract will see SNC-Lavalin providing approximately 300 personnel to continue the existing operation and maintenance program for Shell. The QGC asset comprises of 24 field compression stations, six central gas processing plants (CPP), five sales stations and one power station.

Subsea engineering giant, Oceaneering International has secured a contract to support a decommissioning project in Canada. The scope of the contract includes internal cutting, external cutting, and local soil displacement. The award is first in the line of decommissioning contracts for Oceaneering in Canada. Work is slated for commencement in 2Q2020.

Calgary-based Pembina Corp. has agreed to buy Kinder Morgan Canada and the U.S. division of the Cochin Pipeline system in a $3.27 billion deal. Pembina will acquire Kinder Morgan Canada in an all-stock deal, valuing the Canadian assets of the pipeline giant at about C$15.02 per share. This represented a premium of 36.8% to stock’s Tuesday close.

Canadian oil and gas producer Encana Corp has reported profit in its quarterly report. The net income of the company rose to $336 million in the second quarter compared to the loss of $151 million in the corresponding quarter last year. Encana's profit increased with the boost in production this year. Total rise in production was about 11% to 591,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in the quarter.

Canadian oil sands producer, MEG Energy Corp’s quarterly profits trumped estimates on Tuesday, climbing on the back of ramped up production and higher prices. MEG Energy saw a 36.4% jump in the production of low-grade bitumen crude, to 97,288 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter. Net loss for the firm narrowed to C$64 million from C$179 million in the previous year.

Canadian oil & gas firm, Suncor Energy’s profits jumped nearly three times in the second quarter of 2019. Climbing on the back of a deferred income tax gain of C$1.12 billion, net profit for Suncor rose to C$2.7 billion from C$972 million from a year earlier. Suncor’s total production buoyed up to 803,900 boepd, from 661,770 boepd in 2Q2018.

Canada has signed its first binding supply agreement with China. A small-scale Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, FortisBC has joined hands with Top Speed Energy Corp and will supply 53,000 tonnes from its Tilbury facility for two years. Though this deal is small, the nation expects much larger deals with operators of bigger new terminals.

Canadian energy infrastructure firm, Kinder Morgan recorded a net profit for the second quarter, climbing on the back of better incomes from natural gas pipelines and fewer impairment charges. The pipeline giant, however, missed Wall Street estimates in the earnings released yesterday. Kinder Morgan’s share traded lower nearly 2% at $20.21 in the after-hours.

A major drilling operator has reportedly saved C$130k and avoided multiple trips per section by using CougarTM Mechanical Thruster in a production field of Alberta. The operator was drilling a 311 intermediate hole, and was forced to spend an average time of two days per section. Designed and manufactured by Canada's leading drilling solutions provider, Cougar Drilling Solutions, the Mechanical Thruster reduces the severity of shock and vibration downhole.

In March 2017, the Canadian firm CNR International submitted its draft programme for Ninian Northern, which has now received approval from the UK Government. The topside can be withdrawn early next year and the jacket can be removed by 2023, said CNR in its final version. The Ninian platform is located in the UK North Sea and was installed in 1978.

Canadian energy firm, Pieridae Energy has agreed to buy out Shell Canada’s gas assets in Alberta for $144.77 million. The deal will gain Pieridae the ownership to Shell’s midstream and upstream assets in Alberta, apart from three sour gas plants. Shell’s Alberta assets produce 29,000 barrels of natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate. The acquisition secures for Pieridae the remaining supply needed for the proposed Goldboro LNG plant.

Joining a number of energy firms, Spanish energy company Repsol SA, yesterday, announced plans of laying off about 30% of its Canadian workforce as part of global restructuring. Repsol will intimate employees affected by the reorganization in the Canadian exploration and production and corporate units this week. While the firm refused to give an exact number of cuts, Repsol’s Canadian workforce stood at approximately 700 in 2018.

Husky Energy yesterday said that the firm would pay $3.8 million in fine for the 2016 Saskatchewan oil spill. A Husky unit-operated pipeline was discovered to be leaking in the North Saskatchewan River, reportedly caused by ground movement over time. Husky affirmed about learning lessons from the pipeline leak including systematic geotechnical reviews of pipelines. The firm now uses fiber optic sensing technology for all the new large diameter projects.

US E&P firm, Devon Energy has agreed to farm out its Canadian assets to Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. CNRL said on Wednesday that it will shell out $2.81 billion in cash to acquire the assets in Alberta, considering their natural fit to its operations. CNRL’s share jumped the most in almost two months as otherwise skeptical investors realized a good fit.

TransCanada reported Q12019 earnings yesterday, registering a 2% rise in revenue, but remained short of the estimates. Earnings for the firm through its natural gas pipelines in the US climbed 22% to C$792M Y/Y and increased 6% from its Canadian gas pipelines. CEO, TransCanada said that the quarter's profits "reflect the strong performance of our legacy assets along with contributions from ~C$5.3B of growth projects that were placed into service."

Canada-based Suncor Energy has reported a profit in its first quarter of this fiscal year. The company has been benefitted by the improved Canadian heavy crude pricing because of production cutback by Alberta. Suncor's net earnings increased to $899.62 million. Suncor has been largely profited from the crude oil and refined product inventory valuation. The earnings of the company have beaten the estimates of the analysts.

In a major acquisition move, US-based Centurion Group has acquired Canadian communications and specialty equipment rentals business, Tango Delta. With this acquisition, Centurion Group, which provides critical rental, infrastructure and support services, has now expanded to drilling, completions and production (DCP) segment. Tango Delta operates within the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and delivers an extensive range of remote communication offerings.