Wednesday, September 30, 2020

KENNEY'S BOONDOGGLE

TC Energy lays off staff in Canadian gas operations and projects division

FORMERLY TRANS CANADA PIPELINES
BUILDERS OF THE KXL PIPELINE

@CTVRyanWhite Wednesday, September 30, 2020

TC Energy confirmed Tuesday that 'staffing changes' have been made in its Canada Gas Operations & Projects team (file)

CALGARY -- Restructuring at Calgary-based TC Energy Corporation has resulted in the loss of jobs.

The move comes after the company, formerly known as TransCanada Corporation, signed a memorandum of understanding with Natural Law Energy which represents four First Nations in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan.

The deal, which is expected to be finalized later this year, will see Natural Law Energy purchase an equity stake in the Keystone XL pipeline.

"Our Canada Gas Operations & Projects team is implementing a new structure to ensure the optimal skill sets to navigate the next tranche of our expansion and operations," said TC Energy in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "TC Energy continually reviews our organizational structure and processes to ensure we continue to deliver safe and reliable services while meeting the needs of our customers. As ordinary course of operating our business, staffing changes are made as required to remain competitive and optimize our operations."

TC Energy has not disclosed how many positions were cut as a result of the staffing changes.

Alberta's opposition NDP says the layoffs are a direct result of missteps by the provincial government and are calling on the UCP to release how many TC Energy employees lost their jobs.

“Jason Kenney and the UCP gave TC Energy $7.5 billion dollars [sic] with no strings attached," said NDP MLAs Irfan Sabir and Deron Bilous in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "The layoffs today are a devastating example of Jason Kenney’s failure to create jobs and spur economic growth. Jason Kenney and the UCP lost 50,000 jobs before the pandemic. Now even more people are wondering how they’re going to pay their bills, put food on their table, and support their families." 
 

"Albertans deserve to know where their $7.5 billions [sic] went, what will happen if this project fails completely, and how many more jobs will be lost while rich shareholders and profitable corporations fill their pockets at the expense of Albertans,” said Irfan.

According to the NDP, the cuts at TC Energy included layoffs in management.


TC Energy implementing staffing changes, doesn't confirm how many employees being laid off


by Jeff Slack

POSTED SEP 30, 2020 

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Calgary-based TC Energy, working on the Keystone XL pipeline, says staffing changes are being made to remain a competitor in the market.

In an email statement to 660 NEWS, the pipeline firm said its “Canada Gas Operations and Projects team is implementing a new structure to ensure the optimal skill sets to navigate the next tranche of our expansion and operations”

“TC Energy continually reviews our organizational structure and processes to ensure we continue to deliver safe and reliable services while meeting the needs of our customers.”

“As ordinary course of operating our business, staffing changes are made as required to remain competitive and optimize our operations,” the statement finishes.

TC Energy did not confirm how many people were being let go from the company.

Opposition Energy Critic Irfan Sabir accused the UCP government of giving billions of dollars to the company without limitations.

“This was supposed to be jobs and get products to market,” he said.

“Instead, the Keystone XL project is embroiled in legal and political uncertainty and political uncertainty and the company itself is laying off people right here in Calgary.”

“We don’t know how many people are laid off and that’s not okay. Jason Kenney needs to immediately instruct his Labour Minister, Jason copping to release the number of people laid off.”

TC Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with Canadian Indigenous communities on Tuesday, that will allow them to pursue an ownership interest in the Keystone XL pipeline project.

The final agreement between TC Energy and Natural Law is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, formalizing its participation in Keystone XL.

In March, the company approved construction of the US$8-billion project to transport up to 830,000 barrels per day of oil from Alberta to Nebraska after the Alberta government agreed to invest about US$1.1 billion as equity and guarantee a US$4.2-billion project loan.

– With files from the Canadian Press


TC Energy layoffs add to oil patch woes amid low demand


 
EMMA GRANEY ENERGY REPORTER
GLOBE & MAIL
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 29, 202


Pipes intended for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline are shown in Gascoyne, N.D. in 2015. ALEX PANETTA/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. has laid off line workers and managers in its natural gas division as the industry continues to shed jobs in the face of low demand and declining revenues as a result of the pandemic.

TC Energy would not provide the number of employees affected, but said in an e-mail its Canadian gas operations and projects team is being restructured. The move is the latest in a series of job and capital expenditure cuts in the energy sector as companies try to protect their bottom lines.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says more than 28,000 production jobs have been lost across the country in 2020. In the oil field service sector, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors estimates its members have slashed their work forces by between 20 per cent and 50 per cent this year.

Some of the companies that have reduced their work forces this year include Ovintiv Inc. – formerly Canadian energy giant Encana – which laid off workers across its North American operations over the summer. Total Energy Services Inc. and STEP Energy Services Ltd. cut jobs in the spring.

Energy companies were already facing pressures before the pandemic, largely because of depressed oil prices. Husky Energy Inc., for example, laid off hundreds of employees late last year, followed a few weeks later by Perpetual Energy Inc., which slashed its work force by 25 per cent.

This week’s job cuts at TC Energy are restricted to the company’s natural gas operations. That includes a 93,300-kilometre network of natural gas pipeline, which supplies more than 25 per cent of natural gas consumed daily across North America to heat homes, fuel industries and generate power.

In Canada, the company is pursuing a pipeline expansion in northwest Alberta that will run southeast toward Rocky Mountain House. The expansion would add around 350 kilometres of new pipeline to its existing natural gas system. Work planned for the project this year has been delayed as the company awaits federal government approvals.

TC Energy said in September it remained committed to the project and would refine the construction schedule and advance construction planning in anticipation of an approval.

The overhaul at TC Energy comes days after the company’s long-time president and chief executive officer Russ Girling announced his retirement, surprising the market.

Mr. Girling led TC Energy through a period of unprecedented growth, including the development of its liquids-pipeline business, expansion of its power-generation portfolio and its US$13-billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group in 2016.

For a decade he also led the charge to get the Keystone pipeline expansion built, despite reams of legal challenges and regulatory hurdles along the way.

The pipeline received a boost in March when the Alberta government agreed to contribute US$1.1-billion to gain an ownership stake that it plans to sell back to the company after commercial operations begin. It will also guarantee US$4.2-billion of debt related to the 1,947-kilometre pipeline.

Kavi Bal, spokesperson for Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage, said Tuesday the changes made by TC Energy are not related to the Keystone XL project. While the province now has a direct financial interest, it does not decide the day-to-day operations or management of TC Energy, he said.

Also on Tuesday, Natural Law Energy – comprising the Maskwacis Nations, Saddle Lake Cree Nation and Nekaneet First Nation – signed a memorandum of understanding with TC Energy to pursue an equity interest in Keystone XL “and other potential related midstream and power projects.”

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