Alberta, Canada

IEEFA Research

Press release: IEEFA statement on Teck Resources decision to withdraw Frontier Mine proposal

February 24, 2020 – Tom Sanzillo, Director of Finance for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), made the following statement today on Teck Resources’ decision to withdraw its proposal to build the Frontier oil sands mine in Alberta: “Teck’s leadership has acknowledged that conditions have changed, and the $20 billion Frontier project […]

and February 24, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA report: Teck Resources’ Frontier Oil Sands project shows reckless disregard for financials

IEEFA report: Teck Resources’ Frontier Oil Sands project shows reckless disregard for financials

Joint Review Panel’s approval was based on inflated oil price projections

January 15, 2020 (IEEFA North America) – The Joint Review Panel (JRP) approved Teck Resources’ proposed Frontier oil sands mine, now under federal government review, based on inflated oil price estimates of $95/barrel or better “for years to come,” which is  “misguided and reckless,” according to a report released today by the U.S.-based Institute for […]

, and January 16, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA report: ‘Canada’s Folly’ could drive national budget deficit 36% higher while ensuring Houston-based Kinder Morgan a 637% gain

IEEFA report: ‘Canada’s Folly’ could drive national budget deficit 36% higher while ensuring Houston-based Kinder Morgan a 637% gain

Purchase of stalled Trans Mountain Pipeline would benefit Texas company at expense of taxpayers; Call for full public disclosure; C$11.6 billion in completion costs for ‘a pipeline project that is unnecessary’

June 26, 2018  (IEEFA)— Canada could see its budget deficit grow by more than a third with the national government’s purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline from Houston-based Kinder Morgan, according to a report published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The report —“Canada’s Folly: Government Purchase of Trans Mountain Pipeline Risks […]

, and June 26, 2018 Read More →
IEEFA Update: How Will Westmoreland Coal’s Deepening Spiral End?

IEEFA Update: How Will Westmoreland Coal’s Deepening Spiral End?

Disappearing Market Capitalization and Unsustainable Debt

We’ve just published a research brief of interest to any person, community, business, or investor with ties to Westmoreland Coal Co. The brief—“Westmoreland Coal Is in Trouble”—lays out how the company, which produces coal for electricity generation, is hobbled by debt, is losing customers, has suffered a catastrophic drop in stock price, and appears to […]

February 16, 2018 Read More →

IEEFA Investor Memo ExxonMobil (XOM): Company Is an ‘Outlier’ in How It Reports Write-offs on Canadian Oil Sands Assets

Loss Accounting ‘Largely Overlooked by Industry Analysts;’ Full Transparency Could Affect Balance Sheet by $22 Billion

April 17, 2017  (IEEFA.org) – The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) today published an investor memo questioning whether ExxonMobil has appropriately accounted for its recent write-off of billions of barrels of Canadian oil sands assets. In “ExxonMobil Investment Note,” IEEFA outlines how ExxonMobil remains the exception in the oil industry in its […]

and April 17, 2017 Read More →
IEEFA Report: Three Timely Takeaways on 2016 Global Energy Transformation

IEEFA Report: Three Timely Takeaways on 2016 Global Energy Transformation

An Acceleration to Renewables, Faster-Than-Expected Shifts Regionally and Nationally, Growing Risk for Investors Who Lag Behind

Three notable takeaways emerge from the rapid transformation of the global energy economy, as we detail in a new paper we published today as the landmark Paris Agreement officially goes into effect. The global transition to renewables is accelerating. Change is happening faster than expected. Those left behind in this transition face growing financial risk. […]

November 5, 2016 Read More →
Report: ‘A Constellation of Risks’: How Public Accountability Is Slowing Tar Sands Development

Report: ‘A Constellation of Risks’: How Public Accountability Is Slowing Tar Sands Development

Material Risks: How public accountability is slowing tar sands development (pdf) By: Tom Sanzillo (IEEFA), Lorne Stockman (Oil Change International), Deborah Rogers (Energy Policy Forum), Hannah McKinnon (Oil Change International), Elizabeth Bast (Oil Change International), and Steve Kretzmann (Oil Change International)

October 29, 2014 Read More →

More News and Commentary

Canadian regulator: Renewable transition picking up speed in oil-producing Alberta

Reuters: Canada’s biggest oil-producing province Alberta is expected to see the fastest growth in renewable energy capacity between 2018 and 2023, the Canada Energy Regulator forecast in a Tuesday report, as new wind and solar projects help replace coal-fired electricity. By 2023, 26% of Alberta’s electricity capacity will come from renewable sources, up from 16% […]

March 24, 2021 Read More →

Biden revokes permit for Keystone XL pipeline, likely killing project

NPR: As part of his ambitious plan to address climate change, President Biden is revoking a key cross-border presidential permit needed to finish the controversial Keystone XL pipeline This likely means the end of the $8 billion pipeline, a years-long project that would have carried oil sands crude from Alberta, Canada, to the American Gulf […]

January 21, 2021 Read More →

Study finds significant methane leakage from abandoned oil, gas wells in Canada, U.S.

Reuters: Methane leaking out of the more than 4 million abandoned oil and gas wells in the United States and Canada is a far greater contributor to climate change than government estimates suggest, researchers from McGill University said on Wednesday. Canada has underestimated methane emissions from its abandoned wells by as much as 150%, while […]

January 21, 2021 Read More →

TransAlta to convert its Canadian coal-fired plants to gas by yearend 2021

CBC: TransAlta will end operations at Highvale thermal coal mine by the end of 2021 as it switches to natural gas at all of its coal-fired plants in Canada. The announcement brings with it hundreds of job losses and comes four years earlier than TransAlta originally planned. The percentage of power in Alberta generated from […]

November 5, 2020 Read More →

TransAlta begins commercial operation of Alberta’s first battery storage project

Saur Energy: TransAlta Renewables has announced that its 10 MW WindCharger battery storage project began commercial operation on October 15, 2020. WindCharger is Alberta’s first utility-scale, lithium-ion energy storage project and utilizes Tesla Megapack technology. It has a nameplate capacity of 10 MW and total storage capacity of 20 MWh. This technology can be fully […]

October 19, 2020 Read More →

ExxonMobil warns of possible 20% writedown in oil and gas assets

Bloomberg: Exxon Mobil Corp. warned that low energy prices may wipe as much as one-fifth of its oil and natural gas reserves off the books. If depressed prices persist for the rest of the year, “certain quantities of crude oil, bitumen and natural gas will not qualify as proved reserves at year-end 2020,” the company […]

August 6, 2020 Read More →

Zurich Insurance pulls out of Trans Mountain pipeline project

Reuters: Insurer Zurich has decided not to renew cover for the Canadian government’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline, said a spokeswoman for the project, which is opposed by environmental campaigners and some indigenous groups. All financial services companies are under pressure from environmental campaigners to cease doing business with the fossil fuel industry. A planned expansion […]

July 24, 2020 Read More →

Inter Pipeline boosts expected cost of new petrochemical project in Alberta

The Canadian Press: Inter Pipeline Ltd. is warning that the cost of building its Heartland Petrochemical Complex has risen by about $500 million and its in-service date may be delayed due to factors including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. When announced in December 2017, the cost of the plant northeast of Edmonton designed to […]

May 11, 2020 Read More →

Another delay for Keystone XL pipeline project

The Guardian: The controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has been dealt a major setback, after a judge revoked a key permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers without properly assessing the impact on endangered species. In a legal challenge brought by a coalition of environmental groups, a federal judge in Montana ordered […]

April 16, 2020 Read More →

Canada’s largest solar project gets $500 million boost from major Danish investor group

Calgary Herald: Construction of Canada’s largest solar farm in Alberta is poised to proceed with the infusion of $500 million from a Denmark-based investment group. The decision by the world’s large renewable energy fund, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, to bring global investors into the 1,900-hectare project on farmland near the village of Lomond in Vulcan County […]

March 25, 2020 Read More →
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