In situ: the next generation for oil production
Oil sands projects are groundbreaking in the attempts to reach ‘inaccessable’ crude
Canada's oil sands can rightly be described as the world’s largest engineering play, and a testing ground for new technologies and ideas to recover more than 1 trillion barrels of previously inaccessible crude. The challenge has always been to improve recovery factors from what was previously considered unrecoverable oil. More than 80% of the oil-sands resource will be developed in situ, or in the reservoir, though that method only accounts for half of Alberta’s present oil-sands production of 1.9 million barrels per day (b/d). The oil sands are different from conventional oil, in that the bitumen does not move of its own accord. An external energy source is required to mobilise inert bitume
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20 February 2026
The country is pushing to increase production and expand key projects despite challenges including OPEC+ discipline and the limitations of its export infrastructure
20 February 2026
Europe has transformed into a global LNG demand powerhouse over the last few years, with the fuel continuing to play a key role in safeguarding the continent’s energy security, Carsten Poppinga, chief commercial officer at Uniper, tells Petroleum Economist
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Sempra Infrastructure’s vice president for marketing and commercial development, Carlos de la Vega, outlines progress across the company’s US Gulf Coast and Mexico Pacific Coast LNG portfolio, including construction at Port Arthur LNG, continued strong performance at Cameron LNG and development of ECA LNG
19 February 2026
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has grown its business rapidly since exporting its first cargo a decade ago. But Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin tells Petroleum Economist that, as in the past, the company’s future expansion plans are anchored by high levels of contracted offtake, supporting predictable returns on investment
