Energy
Western Wind wins proxy battle
Western Wind Energy Corp. (TSX-V:WND) has announced victory over investment fund manager Savitr Capital LLC in a September 25 proxy vote. The company said a majority of its shareholders voted for the Western Wind-endorsed slate of directors, defeating a dissident slate put forward by Savitr Capital.
Western Wind and Savitr Capital have been battling over who should lead the company since Western Wind announced plans to sell the company. In response, Savitr Capital nominated five new candidates for Western Wind’s board.
Energy
Methanex CEO to retire
Bruce Aitken, the CEO of Vancouver-based Methanex Corp. (TSX:MX), has announced his retirement. John Floren, the company’s senior vice-president of global marketing and logistics, will take over from him in early 2013.
Aitken, who has been with Methanex for more than two decades, plans to remain on the company’s board of directors after his retirement. Floren will be stepping into his new role at a time when the company – the world’s largest methanol producer – is involved in an ambitious $550 million project to move a methanol plant from Chile to Louisiana.
Oil and Gas
B.C. to forgo natural gas revenue
Despite facing a $1 billion shortfall from conventional gas royalties, the B.C. government plans to forgo future royalties from the nascent natural gas industry in order to kickstart it, Rich Coleman said September 20.
At a BC Energy Conference in Dawson Creek, the deputy premier and energy and mines minister announced $120 million worth of “royalty deductions” that he said will encourage investment in 21 infrastructure projects in northeastern B.C., where most of the province’s natural gas is located.
Energy
OceanWorks contracted for tidal energy project
One of the world’s most ambitious tidal energy projects will use technology developed in Burnaby to monitor marine power cables.
OceanWorks International has been awarded a contract to provide a system for monitoring the movement and performance of four submarine power cables that will be used in the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) project in Nova Scotia. OceanWorks is headquartered in Houston, Texas, but runs its research and development centre out of Burnaby. The company makes subsea technology.
Mining
Industry needs 16,700 people over next 10 years
B.C.’s mining industry will need to hire more than 16,700 employees over the next 10 years, according to a new report by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHRC) in partnership with the BC Mining HR Task Force.
The report says B.C. will need a minimum of 13,300 workers under a “baseline scenario,” while an uptick in industry will push that to 16,700.
Martha Roberts, director of research at MiHRC, said B.C.’s mining industry employers will need to be “strategic” and “proactive” to meet the projected skills crunch.
