CALGARY, Alberta, April 24 (Reuters) – Alberta remains a
strong supporter of its oil industry after a provincial election
that left the Progressive Conservatives in power to focus on new
markets for Canadian crude and to try to persuade Washington to
let the Keystone XL Pipeline go ahead.

The Conservatives, led by Alison Redford, won 61 of 87 seats
in the provincial legislature in Monday’s election, capturing
44 percent of the popular vote despite lagging in opinion polls
throughout the campaign.

HIGH RIVER, Alberta, April 23 (Reuters) – Alberta’s
Progressive Conservative Party fended off its biggest challenge
in more than four decades of rule on Monday, winning a
convincing majority as voters balked at handing Canada’s top
energy-producing province to an upstart right-wing movement that
promised traditional values and fiscal restraint.

The ruling party of Premier Alison Redford was winning or
leading in 59 of 87 voting districts in the western province of
3.8 million people, garnering 44 percent of votes cast.

LONDON/CALGARY, April 23 (Reuters) – Output has been halted
at the North Sea Buzzard oilfield, Britain’s largest, following
a problem with a gas compressor on the field’ newest platform
over the weekend, operator Nexen said on Monday.

Traders earlier said the shutdown had been prompted by a
small fire and was likely to cause delays in loading of Forties
crude, which is one of the four streams used for the global
dated Brent price benchmark and has been hit by repeated output
problems at the field since last year.

CALGARY, Alberta, April 20 (Reuters) – Toyota Tsusho Corp
, the Japanese trading company, will buy a stake in
Encana Corp’s massive coalbed methane field in southern
Alberta for C$602 million ($608 million).

The deal, announced on Friday, is the latest installment in
Canadian gas producer’s drive to get third parties to inject
cash into its operations as prices for natural gas hit decade
lows.