Fort McMurray under seige...
- Thread starter Nick Danger
- Start date
You need a market that is looking for a product before you build export lines.
Ft Mac specializes in 'synthetic crude' and that means very slippery lubricants rather than fuel for combustion based engines.
JT or Trump or Putin cannot create a market that the banks do not want to be in full swing. The productions levels already surpass the usage level so what is the use of increasing production which is the section of the 'patch' that got shut down rather than closing down lines.
Why do they refer to it as 'tar sands? Because it is heavy crude, heavy means lubrication.
Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the processes used in the upgrading. Typically, it is low in sulfur and has an API gravity of around 30. It is also known as "upgraded crude".
Synthetic crude is an intermediate product produced when an extra-heavy or unconventional oil source is upgraded into a transportable form. Synthetic crude is then shipped to oil refineries where it is further upgraded into finished products. Synthetic crude may also be mixed, as a diluent, with heavy oil to create synbit. Synbit is more viscous than synthetic crude, but can be a less expensive alternative for transporting heavy oil to a conventional refinery.
Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy Inc., and Canadian Natural Resources Limited are the three largest worldwide producers of synthetic crude with a cumulative production of approximately 600,000 barrels per day (95,000 m3/d). The NewGrade Energy Upgrader became operational in 1988, and was the first upgrader in Canada, now part of the CCRL Refinery Complex. [1]
Classifications or grades
Generally speaking, oil with an API gravity between 40 and 45° commands the highest prices. Above 45°, the molecular chains become shorter and less valuable to refineries.[4]
Crude oil is classified as light, medium, or heavy according to its measured API gravity.
Crude oil with API gravity less than 10° is referred to as extra heavy oil or bitumen. Bitumen derived from oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada, has an API gravity of around 8°. It can be diluted with lighter hydrocarbons to produce diluted bitumen, which has an API gravity of less than 22.3°, or further "upgraded" to an API gravity of 31 to 33° as synthetic crude.[7]
Compared to Iranian oil it is a specialty product, a very expensive one but then what R&D project isn't.
Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the processes used in the upgrading. Typically, it is low in sulfur and has an API gravity of around 30. It is also known as "upgraded crude".
Synthetic crude is an intermediate product produced when an extra-heavy or unconventional oil source is upgraded into a transportable form. Synthetic crude is then shipped to oil refineries where it is further upgraded into finished products. Synthetic crude may also be mixed, as a diluent, with heavy oil to create synbit. Synbit is more viscous than synthetic crude, but can be a less expensive alternative for transporting heavy oil to a conventional refinery.
Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy Inc., and Canadian Natural Resources Limited are the three largest worldwide producers of synthetic crude with a cumulative production of approximately 600,000 barrels per day (95,000 m3/d). The NewGrade Energy Upgrader became operational in 1988, and was the first upgrader in Canada, now part of the CCRL Refinery Complex. [1]
Classifications or grades
Generally speaking, oil with an API gravity between 40 and 45° commands the highest prices. Above 45°, the molecular chains become shorter and less valuable to refineries.[4]
Crude oil is classified as light, medium, or heavy according to its measured API gravity.
- Light crude oil has an API gravity higher than 31.1° (i.e., less than 870 kg/m3)
- Medium oil has an API gravity between 22.3 and 31.1° (i.e., 870 to 920 kg/m3)
- Heavy crude oil has an API gravity below 22.3° (i.e., 920 to 1000 kg/m3)
- Extra heavy oil has an API gravity below 10.0° (i.e., greater than 1000 kg/m3)
Crude oil with API gravity less than 10° is referred to as extra heavy oil or bitumen. Bitumen derived from oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada, has an API gravity of around 8°. It can be diluted with lighter hydrocarbons to produce diluted bitumen, which has an API gravity of less than 22.3°, or further "upgraded" to an API gravity of 31 to 33° as synthetic crude.[7]
Compared to Iranian oil it is a specialty product, a very expensive one but then what R&D project isn't.
Strip club offers Fort McMurray evacuees a free lap dance
Chris Purdy, The Canadian Press
First posted: Thursday, May 12, 2016 10:09 AM EDT | Updated: Thursday, May 12, 2016 11:31 AM EDT
EDMONTON -- Fire evacuees from Fort McMurray have been offered meals, clothing, places to stay and now an unusual gift -- a free lap dance.
An Edmonton strip club is waiving its $9 entry fee and offering one $30 lap dance to any customers from the evacuated city in northern Alberta.
As demonstrated in the days since the fire, the oilsands capital is home to many families.
But Chris Round, manager of a company that manages five strip clubs in Alberta including one in Fort McMurray, acknowledges the city also has a reputation as a party place for oil workers making loads of money and spending it in bars on their days off.
"Fort McMurray has been very good to our industry and to our business, that's for sure," Round said Wednesday
Fort McMurray clients are coming into the Edmonton club offering the promotion, Eden Exotic Entertainment, and are happy to take advantage, he said.
"It's been a stressful time for everybody. People just want to relax and get their mind off things for a little bit.
"If it's not for you, that's no big deal. But there's a lot of people that have been really appreciative -- they feel like someone cares."
More than 80,000 residents fled Fort McMurray on May 3 when a wildfire spread into the city and torched about 2,400 buildings.
In addition to three other strip clubs in Edmonton, Round's company owns Showgirls in Fort McMurray.
About 35 dancers and staff there are also evacuees. Some have been given shifts at the Edmonton clubs so they can keep earning money, Round said.
Showgirls wasn't destroyed by the fire, but some employees believe their homes are gone, he said.
Showgirls dancers will also be at a "strip-a-thon" fundraiser Sunday in Edmonton. Each will be doing a show and donating all wages and tips to help with fire relief, Round said.
Some Edmonton dancers have already been collecting tips and money from private dances for the relief effort, including one woman who has donated at least $4,000, said Round.
Most dancers travel a circuit, he added, and worked in clubs across the province -- including Fort McMurray.
They simply want to give back, he said.
"These are great, great people with big hearts."
Chris Round, general manager of YOUR ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ONE STOP SHOP, is pictured in Edmonton, Alta., on May 11, 2016. Round is holding a strip-a-thon to raise money for Fort McMurray evacuees as well as offering free lap dances to the evacuees. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)
Strip club offers Fort McMurray evacuees a free lap dance | Canada | News | Toro
Chris Purdy, The Canadian Press
First posted: Thursday, May 12, 2016 10:09 AM EDT | Updated: Thursday, May 12, 2016 11:31 AM EDT
EDMONTON -- Fire evacuees from Fort McMurray have been offered meals, clothing, places to stay and now an unusual gift -- a free lap dance.
An Edmonton strip club is waiving its $9 entry fee and offering one $30 lap dance to any customers from the evacuated city in northern Alberta.
As demonstrated in the days since the fire, the oilsands capital is home to many families.
But Chris Round, manager of a company that manages five strip clubs in Alberta including one in Fort McMurray, acknowledges the city also has a reputation as a party place for oil workers making loads of money and spending it in bars on their days off.
"Fort McMurray has been very good to our industry and to our business, that's for sure," Round said Wednesday
Fort McMurray clients are coming into the Edmonton club offering the promotion, Eden Exotic Entertainment, and are happy to take advantage, he said.
"It's been a stressful time for everybody. People just want to relax and get their mind off things for a little bit.
"If it's not for you, that's no big deal. But there's a lot of people that have been really appreciative -- they feel like someone cares."
More than 80,000 residents fled Fort McMurray on May 3 when a wildfire spread into the city and torched about 2,400 buildings.
In addition to three other strip clubs in Edmonton, Round's company owns Showgirls in Fort McMurray.
About 35 dancers and staff there are also evacuees. Some have been given shifts at the Edmonton clubs so they can keep earning money, Round said.
Showgirls wasn't destroyed by the fire, but some employees believe their homes are gone, he said.
Showgirls dancers will also be at a "strip-a-thon" fundraiser Sunday in Edmonton. Each will be doing a show and donating all wages and tips to help with fire relief, Round said.
Some Edmonton dancers have already been collecting tips and money from private dances for the relief effort, including one woman who has donated at least $4,000, said Round.
Most dancers travel a circuit, he added, and worked in clubs across the province -- including Fort McMurray.
They simply want to give back, he said.
"These are great, great people with big hearts."
Chris Round, general manager of YOUR ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ONE STOP SHOP, is pictured in Edmonton, Alta., on May 11, 2016. Round is holding a strip-a-thon to raise money for Fort McMurray evacuees as well as offering free lap dances to the evacuees. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)
Strip club offers Fort McMurray evacuees a free lap dance | Canada | News | Toro
Tim Hortons co-founder donates $2M to Alberta wildfires
Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce is donating $2 million to help families affected by the wildfires in Alberta.
Joyce pledged the money to the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal.
“The Canadian Red Cross is extremely grateful for this generous gift from the Joyce family,” said Conrad Sauvé, president and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross in a news release.
“This is the single largest individual donation made to the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal."
Tim Hortons co-founder donates $2M to Alberta wildfires | The Chronicle Herald
Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce is donating $2 million to help families affected by the wildfires in Alberta.
Joyce pledged the money to the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal.
“The Canadian Red Cross is extremely grateful for this generous gift from the Joyce family,” said Conrad Sauvé, president and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross in a news release.
“This is the single largest individual donation made to the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal."
Tim Hortons co-founder donates $2M to Alberta wildfires | The Chronicle Herald
I realize this might be a 'taboo' solution but Quebec has an asbestos mine that only exports 'raw products'. Asbestos is only a health hazard during application and disposal. If it was mixed on site into a form of 'siding' then that woulds also be a 'fireproof material' and removal would be easy and the odds that could be recycled under 'normal use' is quite high.
Lat total I heard was $30M collected but no word on expenses. ($60M once the gov kicks in)
If I show up with soot on my face is that proof I'm a refugee?
Coupons available???
Lat total I heard was $30M collected but no word on expenses. ($60M once the gov kicks in)
If I show up with soot on my face is that proof I'm a refugee?
Coupons available???
Fort McMurray cat rides out raging wildfire inside toppled stove
'I don't know why that fireman looked in that stove'
Gwen Dambrofsky, THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Saturday, May 14, 2016 01:40 AM EDT | Updated: Saturday, May 14, 2016 01:51 AM EDT
For one Fort McMurray cat, it turned out the best place to ride out a raging wildfire was inside a stove.
Jody Lishchynsky says that's where firefighters found her black cat Tux when they were going through the rubble of what used to be her house.
From what she understands, firefighters are speculating an explosion in the home might have blown out the stove glass, and Tux crawled inside. Then another blast or something else caused the appliance to topple onto its side, trapping Tux while simultaneously protecting him from the flames.
Lishchynsky says the day the fire bore down on her neighbourhood in the northern Alberta city was sheer chaos. She had heard neighbourhoods near where she lived were being evacuated, so she headed home to pick up her son and start boxing up photos and important documents.
"We gathered for about 15 minutes. We had a nice pile of photos in the kitchen, ready to go," she says. But then, "the wind shifted, and it jumped the highway. It came down over our hill in minutes. We had to run. We weren't expecting it at all."
She, her son, her roommate and her brother jumped into their truck, along with the family dog, with only what they had in their arms. The photos, the documents and four cats all had to be left behind.
"I didn't take the chance of going back in the house for anything," she says. "It was coming too fast."
Her brother stopped only long enough to help a neighbour get an elderly relative out of a home. "There were flames coming in the window already," says Lishchynsky, adding they couldn't really see the road, just blackness and fire.
They headed to her brother's cabin in Boyle, Alta., where they've set up a temporary home.
Lishchynsky says she was looking on social media when she saw pictures of a firefighter cradling a black cat with bandaged paws, and realized it was Tux.
"Holy smokes," she says. "He looked so dirty in the picture, and had no whiskers."
Through more digging, she found out they had also rescued another of her cats, named Sky, though the other two cats were not found.
Late this week, she went to the Lac La Biche Humane Society and was reunited with Tux and Sky -- whom firefighters had nicknamed Toast and Singe.
Sky lost most of her fur and Tux is wearing a cone while his paws, which sustained burns on the bottom, heal.
As for her future, she's remaining optimistic. Losing her cherished photos and mementos stings the worst -- "You can build another house, but you can't replace some of that stuff" -- but her 12-year-old son, Landon O'Neill is helping her get through it. For Mother's Day, he got her a keepsake ring and told her it was to help her start her collection again.
And it helps to laugh, which Lishchynsky does when she thinks of her little cat's bizarre tale of survival.
"I don't know why that fireman looked in that stove," she says. "That's just beyond me. Sure enough, there's the little frigger."
For one Fort McMurray cat named Tux, shown here in this handout image, it turned out the best place to ride out a raging wildfire was inside a stove. Tux suffered some burns to his paws but is recovering well. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jody Lishchynsky
Fort McMurray cat rides out raging wildfire inside toppled stove | Canada | News
'I don't know why that fireman looked in that stove'
Gwen Dambrofsky, THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Saturday, May 14, 2016 01:40 AM EDT | Updated: Saturday, May 14, 2016 01:51 AM EDT
For one Fort McMurray cat, it turned out the best place to ride out a raging wildfire was inside a stove.
Jody Lishchynsky says that's where firefighters found her black cat Tux when they were going through the rubble of what used to be her house.
From what she understands, firefighters are speculating an explosion in the home might have blown out the stove glass, and Tux crawled inside. Then another blast or something else caused the appliance to topple onto its side, trapping Tux while simultaneously protecting him from the flames.
Lishchynsky says the day the fire bore down on her neighbourhood in the northern Alberta city was sheer chaos. She had heard neighbourhoods near where she lived were being evacuated, so she headed home to pick up her son and start boxing up photos and important documents.
"We gathered for about 15 minutes. We had a nice pile of photos in the kitchen, ready to go," she says. But then, "the wind shifted, and it jumped the highway. It came down over our hill in minutes. We had to run. We weren't expecting it at all."
She, her son, her roommate and her brother jumped into their truck, along with the family dog, with only what they had in their arms. The photos, the documents and four cats all had to be left behind.
"I didn't take the chance of going back in the house for anything," she says. "It was coming too fast."
Her brother stopped only long enough to help a neighbour get an elderly relative out of a home. "There were flames coming in the window already," says Lishchynsky, adding they couldn't really see the road, just blackness and fire.
They headed to her brother's cabin in Boyle, Alta., where they've set up a temporary home.
Lishchynsky says she was looking on social media when she saw pictures of a firefighter cradling a black cat with bandaged paws, and realized it was Tux.
"Holy smokes," she says. "He looked so dirty in the picture, and had no whiskers."
Through more digging, she found out they had also rescued another of her cats, named Sky, though the other two cats were not found.
Late this week, she went to the Lac La Biche Humane Society and was reunited with Tux and Sky -- whom firefighters had nicknamed Toast and Singe.
Sky lost most of her fur and Tux is wearing a cone while his paws, which sustained burns on the bottom, heal.
As for her future, she's remaining optimistic. Losing her cherished photos and mementos stings the worst -- "You can build another house, but you can't replace some of that stuff" -- but her 12-year-old son, Landon O'Neill is helping her get through it. For Mother's Day, he got her a keepsake ring and told her it was to help her start her collection again.
And it helps to laugh, which Lishchynsky does when she thinks of her little cat's bizarre tale of survival.
"I don't know why that fireman looked in that stove," she says. "That's just beyond me. Sure enough, there's the little frigger."
For one Fort McMurray cat named Tux, shown here in this handout image, it turned out the best place to ride out a raging wildfire was inside a stove. Tux suffered some burns to his paws but is recovering well. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jody Lishchynsky
Fort McMurray cat rides out raging wildfire inside toppled stove | Canada | News
WOW!! This is nice, the Airlines broke the rules and allowed pets aboard..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5KVDoIWnTw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5KVDoIWnTw
CTV Calgary Verified account @CTVCalgary More evacuations in Fort Mac as fire reaches toward facilities. @CTVBMacfarlane has more. http://ctv.news/oGxqU1T
Todd Banks @Banks_Todd Todd Banks Retweeted CTV Calgary
Yet @justintrudeau refuses to accept offers of assistance from countries with the resources to fight the fires.
Hendrik P. Kiliaan @hkiliaan Hendrik P. Kiliaan Retweeted Todd Banks
Are they quietly procrastinating and hoping the fire will hit the actual oil production facilities?
^like flossy and other concern troll 'citizens'.
Fort McMurray Fire has now crossed into Saskatchewan
Climate change.
What Fort McMurray's fire tells us about preparing for The Big One: BUSINESS WEEK WRAP
The wildfire raging in northern Alberta dominated headlines again this week, as the blaze was confirmed to have crossed the border into Saskatchewan.
Fort McMurray and other hard hit areas are still picking up the pieces, but one thing is already abundantly clear: this won't be the last natural disaster Canada will ever have to deal with.
That's why the head of the Insurance Bureau of Canada says we need a national disaster strategy, to be sure that the economy and the country are prepared for the next big thing thrown our way.
One thing the industry is not prepared for, Don Forgeron told us this week, is The Big One — the earthquake version of the fire that engulfed a huge part of the country this month.
"What we're not prepared for though, is ... the equivalent of that in terms of an earthquake. And that is the one ... that keeps our industry up, not just because of our industry but the impact that would have on the country as a whole."
For a country like Canada, with large populated on active fault lines, that's a big problem. And the man in charge of making sure insurers can afford to pay for the rebuild says it's one that needs urgent attention.
What Fort McMurray's fire tells us about preparing for The Big One: BUSINESS WEEK WRAP - Business - CBC News
Climate change.
What Fort McMurray's fire tells us about preparing for The Big One: BUSINESS WEEK WRAP
The wildfire raging in northern Alberta dominated headlines again this week, as the blaze was confirmed to have crossed the border into Saskatchewan.
Fort McMurray and other hard hit areas are still picking up the pieces, but one thing is already abundantly clear: this won't be the last natural disaster Canada will ever have to deal with.
That's why the head of the Insurance Bureau of Canada says we need a national disaster strategy, to be sure that the economy and the country are prepared for the next big thing thrown our way.
One thing the industry is not prepared for, Don Forgeron told us this week, is The Big One — the earthquake version of the fire that engulfed a huge part of the country this month.
"What we're not prepared for though, is ... the equivalent of that in terms of an earthquake. And that is the one ... that keeps our industry up, not just because of our industry but the impact that would have on the country as a whole."
For a country like Canada, with large populated on active fault lines, that's a big problem. And the man in charge of making sure insurers can afford to pay for the rebuild says it's one that needs urgent attention.
What Fort McMurray's fire tells us about preparing for The Big One: BUSINESS WEEK WRAP - Business - CBC News
CTV Vancouver Verified account @CTVVancouver Fire evacuation orders lifted north of Fort McMurray http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/fire-evacuation-orders-lifted-north-of-fort-mcmurray-1.2911972 …
good news.
A few facts everyone should consider in an emergency.
1-Mandatory evacuation is not real. They cannot physically force you to leave your property. They cannot get a judge to order your removal. If you choose to stay and assume the risk they cannot legally prevent it. All the govt declaration does is remove the requirement to mitigate damage by your insurance company
2-Once you do leave even though there is no actual lawful authority to prevent your returning you will have to find alternate routes because any main road will be blocked by govt. If you do leave plan a route back in ahead of time.
3-The govt will NOT protect your property. In fact as shown in New Orleans and High River they will most likely use the opportunity to invade your privacy and steal your private possessions and will not compensate you for any damage done while committing break & enter on your home.
1-Mandatory evacuation is not real. They cannot physically force you to leave your property. They cannot get a judge to order your removal. If you choose to stay and assume the risk they cannot legally prevent it. All the govt declaration does is remove the requirement to mitigate damage by your insurance company
2-Once you do leave even though there is no actual lawful authority to prevent your returning you will have to find alternate routes because any main road will be blocked by govt. If you do leave plan a route back in ahead of time.
3-The govt will NOT protect your property. In fact as shown in New Orleans and High River they will most likely use the opportunity to invade your privacy and steal your private possessions and will not compensate you for any damage done while committing break & enter on your home.
Fort McMurray fire a carbon catastrophe
Fort McMurray fire a carbon catastrophe
The Fort McMurray wildfire, which now seems likely to be the costliest disaster in Canada’s history, continues to grow. According to the government of Alberta, as of Friday morning it had burned more than 500,000 hectares of land, or more than 1.2 million acres.
These are preliminary numbers, to be sure, and shouldn’t be taken as precise. They’re also likely to change further. “There will be wet areas, boggy areas that don’t burn. But it’s not out yet, either, so … even without any major runs, by the time it is contained, it will likely grow some more,” said Steve Taylor, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service.
Taylor said the fire already ranks in the top six or seven largest fires seen in Canada in the satellite era, starting in 1970, when observations became most reliable. Especially since this is occurring in May, early in the wildfire season, that’s pretty incredible.
And so is another detail about this fire — the amount of carbon that it is apparently pumping into the atmosphere.
Taylor’s colleague, Werner Kurz, is a senior research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service and heads its carbon accounting team. He said he generally estimates that for every hectare of forest land consumed in a fire like this one, about 170 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions — so dubbed because they actually include not only carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide, two additional greenhouse gases — head into the atmosphere.
That, in turn, means that this single fire has contributed — for a rough estimate — some 85 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
In 2014, the last year for which statistics are currently available, Canada emitted a net of https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/21/canada-gets-a-d-on-environmental-report-card.html 732 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalentEND into the atmosphere. This single wildfire thus may have given off enough carbon to account for over 10 per cent of Canada’s total emissions.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/20/fort-mcmurray-fire-a-carbon-catastrophe.html
Fort McMurray fire a carbon catastrophe
The Fort McMurray wildfire, which now seems likely to be the costliest disaster in Canada’s history, continues to grow. According to the government of Alberta, as of Friday morning it had burned more than 500,000 hectares of land, or more than 1.2 million acres.
These are preliminary numbers, to be sure, and shouldn’t be taken as precise. They’re also likely to change further. “There will be wet areas, boggy areas that don’t burn. But it’s not out yet, either, so … even without any major runs, by the time it is contained, it will likely grow some more,” said Steve Taylor, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service.
Taylor said the fire already ranks in the top six or seven largest fires seen in Canada in the satellite era, starting in 1970, when observations became most reliable. Especially since this is occurring in May, early in the wildfire season, that’s pretty incredible.
And so is another detail about this fire — the amount of carbon that it is apparently pumping into the atmosphere.
Taylor’s colleague, Werner Kurz, is a senior research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service and heads its carbon accounting team. He said he generally estimates that for every hectare of forest land consumed in a fire like this one, about 170 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions — so dubbed because they actually include not only carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide, two additional greenhouse gases — head into the atmosphere.
That, in turn, means that this single fire has contributed — for a rough estimate — some 85 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
In 2014, the last year for which statistics are currently available, Canada emitted a net of https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/21/canada-gets-a-d-on-environmental-report-card.html 732 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalentEND into the atmosphere. This single wildfire thus may have given off enough carbon to account for over 10 per cent of Canada’s total emissions.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/20/fort-mcmurray-fire-a-carbon-catastrophe.html