Workers at the firm’s Canadian division disregarded leak alarms and then restarted a ruptured oil pipeline, causing one of the worst oil spills in Alberta’s history, according to a report issued by the province’s pipeline regulator. On Tuesday, Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board issued four high-risk enforcement actions against Plains Midstream Canada as it concuded an investigation into the April 2011 breach of the Rainbow pipeline. The spill released 28,000 barrels of crude oil in a wilderness area close to the northern Alberta native community of Little Buffalo. Since the Board can only levy minor penalties, there was no further action. However, it estimates that the spill cost the Alberta economy $826 million.

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PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) Current price $42.16

The corporation announced Wednesday the pricing of the previously reported public offering of 7.2 million shares of its common stock at a price of $41.71 per share. The offering should close on March 4th, subject to the usual closing conditions. PG&E  will contribute all of the net proceeds to its regulated subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which will use them for general corporate purposes.

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ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP): Current price $58.05

The Canadian firm Canacol Energy, which operates in Colombia, will explore for shale oil with ConocoPhillips in the Middle Magdalena basin of Colombia. Through the accord terms, ConocoPhillips will pay $13.5 million in cash and carry the expenses of the drilling, completing and testing of up to 13 wells. The arrangement indicates Colombia’s increasing appeal as a location in which oil and gas firms may do business in South America.

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TransCanada Corporation (NYSE:TRP): Current price $46.76

As of late, officials in Canada have been stepping up their lobbying in support of United States approval of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline expansion. The Obama administration says that it might make its decisiosn by June. Meanwhile, Canada’s ambassador, Gary Doer, has posed a zinger to the American people via Canada Real Time, asking, “Do you want your oil from Hugo Chavez or do you want it from Canada?” The project may be a huge political football in the U.S., but it is also an economic proposition in Canada. The current lack of pipeline capacity has driven Canadian crude prices downwards in a big way.

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