+ Alberta government moving forward on final leg of Edmonton’s ring road - Anthony Henday Drive Northeast, finalizing a key piece of transportation infrastructure for the Capital region (project involves 27 kilometres of six- and eight-lane divided roadway, eight interchanges, nine flyovers, two river structures, and 47 total bridge structures. Using the P3 process , the road will be finished by fall 2016, three years earlier than through conventional delivery)
+ AltaLink have filed application to construct a new 500KV, $1.4 billion power line between Calgary and Edmonton to boost the power grid; this is a re-start of last year’s proposal that encountered so much landowner opposition . . . this fight is just beginning.
+ City of Calgary will receive $256 million in 2011-12 for infrastructure projects through the province’s Municipal Sustainability Initiative; projects for the City of Calgary in 2010-11-include: extension of LRT platforms, construction of the Mount Royal University Conservatory and Performance Hall, construction of Seton Emergency Response Station and Oliver Bowen Maintenance Facility Storage Expansion
+ Dialog, formerly Cohos Evamy Partners, selected to design new $108 million Edson healthcare centre
+ Dialog, formerly Cohos Evamy Partners, selected to design $520 million regional healthcare centre in Grande Prairie
+ Gibbs Gage/Diamond and Schmitt selected to design $200 million redevelopment of the Medicine HatRegionalHospital
+ Perkins and Will selected to design $112.7 million ChinookRegionalHospital in Lethbridge
+ Stantec Architecture Ltd. selected to design $90 million healthcare centre in High Prairie
+ Tsuu T’ina Chief Sandford Big Plume and Premier Stelmach have both commented on a re-start to talks on running the SW portion of the ring road through first nation lands . . . and, hopefully, if Mayor Nenshi is more pro-active than his weaseling predecessor, a deal might be done . . .which will please SW residents who badly need the road and collectively despise all the alternative routes through or around the environmentally sensitive weasel-head area.
+ readers are encouraged to forward news items, commentary, feedback & items for our 'on the move' section by writing to: research@maxcomm.ca . We welcome your information – send us information on corporate news, key staff appointments, financings and notices of upcomg industry and charity events.
FRESH ITEMS TODAY - Mar. 7/2011
+ drilling activity hits five year high in Western Canada
+ secondary suites remain illegal in most Calgary districts until at least 2012 – council failed to follow Mayor Nenshi’s lead on the issue as NIMBY (not in my backyard) sentiment won out over the need for increased volume of affordable housing for students, seniors and working poor
+ TransCanada Corporation continue to marshall support from Americans of influence, including Secretary of State Clinton, for their Keystone pipeline project . . . stay tuned
+ United States government is weighing tapping into its strategic oil reserve as a way of easing soaring oil prices
+ unrest in Libya continues, disrupting European oil market, pushing crude and gasoline prices worldwide
Mark Kolke, Editor/Publisher
GOLF JOKE
+ after a particularly poor game of golf, a popular club member skipped the clubhouse and started to go home. As he was walking to the parking lot to get his car, a policeman stopped him and asked, "Did you tee off on the sixteenth hole about twenty minutes ago?" "Yes," the golfer responded. "Did you happen to hook your ball so that it went over the trees and off the course?" "Yes, I did. How did you know?" he asked. "Well," said the policeman very seriously, "Your ball flew out onto the highway and crashed through a driver's windshield. The car went out of control, crashing into five other cars and a fire truck. The fire truck couldn't make it to the fire, and the building burned down. So, what are you going to do about it?" The golfer thought it over carefully and responded... "I think I'll close my stance a little bit, tighten my grip and lower my right thumb."
FACILITYCalgary - Calgary oil & gas, business and real estate NEWS, Mark Kolke (Editor) - President, MaxComm Realty Advisors - Calgary office leasing, Calgary industrial leasing, P3 Public Private Partnerships - MaxComm Communications Publisher
+ Bank of Canada maintained its overnight rate target at 1%
+ BP talking to interested buyers over the sale of some U.K. oil and gas interests; North Sea element alone valued at $1 billion
+ Canadian Natural Resources estimate repairs to its fire damaged Horizon oilsands project will cost $400 million and talk longer than earlier estimated to resume pre-fire levels of production
+ Government of Alberta’s sold 980 acres of Crown land in the Southlands area of Fort McMurray to Pacific Investments and Development Ltd. for $35 million
+ KBR awarded contract to build LNG terminal at Kitimat by Apached Canada Ltd. and EOG Resources Canada Inc.
+ Natural Gas Exchange Inc. started trading physical crude products on WebICE platform
+ New Millennium Capital Corp. signed binding agreements with Tata Steel Global Minerals Holdings Pte Ltd. to develop magnetic iron ore deposits in Labrador
+ Pembina Pipeline Corporation extending reach of conventional pipeline system to provide alternative liquids solutions to producers in Edson area
+ Ripper Oil And Gas Inc. closed $3 million asset sale
+ TG World Energy Corp’s plan of arrangement with TVI Pacific Inc. got securityholder approval
+ Torys LLP is opening a Calgary office
+ U.S. authorities have approved the first deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico since last year’s BP spill; bodes well for Nexen to expand its activities
+ A & W Revenue Royalties Income Fund closed 2nd tranche of units issue, $69,979,950
+ Crew Energy Inc. closed $100 million common share equity financing
+ Manulife Financial Corporation is on the market to raise $200 million by a preferred share issue
+ Oncolytics Biotech Inc. closed $7.7 million issue of equity from exercise of warrants
+ Progress Energy Resources Corp. closed $400 million common share and convertible subordinated debt issue
QUOTE
‘Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.’ – Jack Welch
COMMENTARY
+ it appears Prime Minister Harper is in good shape to fight an election this spring (likely May) if opposition parties pull the triggers; pollsters suggest he has a good chance of pulling off a majority victory . . . but, unless he does so, expect a leadership battle to unfold because party faithful are unlikely to support a guy who formed 3 minority governments in a row . . stay tuned, the silly season will begin once the snow melts
+ in Alberta, the Tory leadership race to replace Ed Stelmach will get more substantive this week as Gary Mar is expected to enter the race – a very credible candidate whose earlier ambitions were stifled by an insecure Ralph Klein, it might just be Mar-time this time. . .
