Oil & gas industry

Energy board launches TransCanada audit

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Public health & safety, Environment
Rating: 
3

Nathan VanderKlippe – October 31, 2012

The National Energy Board has launched a major audit of TransCanada Corp., after a whistle blower’s revelations about problems in the pipeline company’s operating practices.

In a letter sent to Calgary-based TransCanada, the NEB said it will examine the integrity management programs at almost all of the company’s pipelines, including its natural gas systems and Keystone pipe.

Pipeline Whistleblower: Cracks in The System

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Public health & safety, Environment
Rating: 
3

Andrew Nikiforuk – October 1, 2012

Evan Vokes, a 46-year-old Calgary pipeline engineer, is a man with a mission, and a conscience. While building natural gas pipelines in Canada, Mexico and the United States for TransCanada Corporation, he started raising concerns about industry practices.

Vokes had an important inside job: he was the guy that ensured the pipelines were constructed safely. His specific duties included metallurgy and welding. He also specialized in an important accountability process known as non-destructive examination. And he didn't like what he was seeing.

Regulator probing 'safety culture' at TransCanada Pipelines

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Public health & safety, Environment, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
3
Evan Vokes

Charles Rusnell – October 17, 2012

Canada's federal energy industry regulator is investigating the "safety culture" within TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., following revelations from a former engineer about substandard practices, CBC News has learned.

"This upcoming focus audit will certainly address the allegations and things related to the allegations," National Energy Board (NEB) chief engineer Iain Colquhoun told CBC News in an exclusive interview.

Whistleblower forced investigation of TransCanada pipeline

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Whistleblowers, Public health & safety, Environment
Rating: 
4

Charles Rusnell, Timothy Sawa and Joseph Loiero – October 17, 2012

A former TransCanada engineer says he reported its substandard practices to the federal energy regulator because he believed the company’s management, right up to the chief executive officer, refused to act on his complaints.

In an exclusive television interview with CBC News, Evan Vokes said he raised concerns about the competency of some pipeline inspectors and the company’s lack of compliance with welding regulations set by the National Energy Board (NEB), the federal energy industry regulator.

TransCanada whistleblower sparks NEB audit

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Regulatory oversight, Environment, Public health & safety
Rating: 
3

John Spears – October 12, 2012

A whistle-blowing former employee at TransCanada Corp. has complained that the company is skirting regulatory standards.As a result, the National Energy Board has launched an audit saying it is “concerned by TransCanada’s non-compliance with NEB regulations.”

“The Board is concerned by TransCanada’s non-compliance with NEB regulations, as well as its own internal management systems and procedures,” the board says in a letter to TransCanada posted on the NEB Website.

TransCanada reproached by NEB over pipeline compliance

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Regulatory oversight, Environment, Watchdogs
Rating: 
3

CBC News – October 12, 2012

A complaint by a former TransCanada Pipelines employee has prompted the National Energy Board to warn the company that its pipeline inspection practices aren’t up to snuff.

The federal energy industry regulator has told the Calgary-based company in a letter, which has been posted on the NEB website, that it will not put up with further infractions of regulations related to welding inspections, the training of pipeline inspectors and internal engineering standards.

Pipeline Violations Poorly Enforced: Engineer

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry, Public health & safety, Environment
Rating: 
0

Andrew Nikiforuk – September 28, 2012

A pipeline materials engineer, who worked for TransCanada Pipeline for five years, says some of the nation's major pipeline companies are breaking the rules on pipeline safety and that National Energy Board is not adequately enforcing them.

Evan Vokes, a 46-year-old Calgary-based engineer and former TransCanada employee, has filed complaints with the National Energy Board, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA is a self-regulating professional group that represents engineers) and the Prime Minister's Office documenting repeated violations of standard safety regulations and codes.

UK drivers pay too much for gas because of price rigging

Topics: 
Oil & gas industry
Rating: 
3.5

Rowena Mason – September 13, 2012

Ministers are facing calls for an investigation into the market after new claims from a whistleblower that the market is fixed on a daily basis. Robert Halfon, an MP calling for lower petrol prices, will today raise the oil trader’s allegations in parliament and demand an official inquiry by the financial regulator.

Mr Halfon said any manipulation of the oil price would affect how much drivers pay for their petrol, which soared to a record high of 142.5p per litre earlier this year. Prices at the pump are currently within 3p of this peak, according to the Automobile Association.

Foreign radicals Koch brothers are after the oil sands

Topics: 
Corporate ethics, Oil & gas industry, Climate change
Rating: 
2

Gerald Caplan – May. 26, 2012

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have courageously chosen to expose and confront foreign interests that have surreptitiously been infiltrating the Canadian oil industry – and they don’t mean their Chinese Communist partners. They are apparently in possession of revelations about these extremists and criminals that, in the words of Senator Nicole Eaton, “would make your blood boil.”

Launching a much-needed Senate inquiry into “interference of foreign foundations in Canada’s domestic affairs” and their “abuse” of registered charitable status, Ms. Eaton stated: “There is political manipulation. There is influence peddling. There are millions of dollars crossing borders masquerading as charitable donations.” I am glad to contribute to their work.

Ecuador Plaintiffs File $18 Billion Lawsuit Against Chevron In Canada

Topics: 
Corporate ethics, Oil & gas industry, Environment, Latin America
Rating: 
3

Nasdaq – May 30, 2012

Lago Agrio plaintiffs from the Amazon communities have filed Wednesday a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario in order to enforce a ruling by an Ecuadorean court, obtained after 19 years of litigation, against U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp. (CVX) that called for $18.2 billion in damages.

The enforcement lawsuit is seeking the seizure of shares and assets of Chevron Canada as it does not currently hold any assets in Ecuador. Chevron said it will vigorously defend against any enforcement action, and added that the Ecuador judgment is not enforceable in any court that observes the rule of law.

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