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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (1378)	11/8/2002 12:09:20 AM
From: Lino...	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 37191

Like I said before...it's deja-vu all over again: Kyoto puts oilsands spending on hold Edmonton Journal Thursday, November 07, 2002 For the first time in the Alberta oilpatch, the chill from the Kyoto accord has delayed major spending for an oilsands project. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. announced Wednesday it has hacked $100 million from its $331-million engineering budget on the $8-billion, five-year Horizon pit mine project. "Uncertainty surrounding implementation of the Kyoto protocol by the Canadian government" is to blame for the budget cut and one-year delay in the project to 2008, Calgary-based CNRL said in its third-quarter report. The 1997 Kyoto accord calls for reductions in greenhouse gases to six per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2012. The Canadian government has vowed to sign the accord by the end of the year. Horizon is the most expensive proposal in the oilsands region. The plan is to build an upgrader north of Fort McMurray to convert heavy crude to lighter grades of oil. But stiff emission penalties under the Kyoto accord could result in the upgrader being built in the U.S., the company has said on several occasions. U.S. President George Bush has said his country won't sign the accord. "I don't have a feel for what's happening yet," CNRL president John Langille said. Engineering plans would need to include or exclude an Alberta upgrader. The remaining $221-million engineering budget "could decrease too, depending on what happens." CNRL Ltd. filed an application for Horizon in June. It will take regulators about 18 months for hearings and a decision. The company is in preliminary stages of engineering work, leading up to detailed planning. Most energy companies reveal their next-year spending plans during November and December and some may follow the lead of CNRL. TrueNorth Energy Corp., which received regulatory approval last month, has delayed giving its $3.5-billion Fort Hills project a green light, citing uncertainty over Kyoto as one serious impediment. Eric Newell, chief executive of Syncrude Canada, recently said ratification of Kyoto is "absolute nuts." Petro-Canada's next big project, the $800-million Meadow Creek proposal south of Fort McMurray, is in jeopardy. Nexen Canada, partners in a $1.5-billion project south of Fort McMurray, said ratification of Kyoto could result in the company spending its money elsewhere.