Canadian oil sands in shackles
Producers tighten their belts even as financial conditions rally and midstream expansion looms
Major oil sands producers would never admit publicly what the exodus of non-Canadian oil companies has made patently clear—that their glory days are behind them, with the world moving towards rapid decarbonisation. But they appear to have come to a similar conclusion privately, based on their continuing reluctance to spend on capital projects. And this is despite benchmark light-sweet crude prices well over $60/bl and significant new pipeline capacity finally coming online. Calagary-based Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project should provide an additional 370,000bl/d of export capacity for Western Canada by early 2022 by the latest. The Canadian government’s Trans Mountain Expansion project w
Also in this section
7 August 2025
The quick, unified and decisive strategy to return all the barrels from the hefty tranche of cuts from the eight producers involved in voluntary curbs signals a shift and sets the tone for the path ahead
7 August 2025
Without US backing, the EU’s newest sanctions package against Russia—though not painless—is unlikely to have a significant impact on the country’s oil and gas revenues or its broader economy
6 August 2025
Diesel market disruptions have propelled crude prices above $100/bl twice in this century, and now oil teeters on the brink of another crude quality crisis
5 August 2025
After failed attempts to find a buyer for its stake in Russia’s largest oil producer, BP may be able to avoid the harsh treatment meted out to ExxonMobil and Shell when they exited—and could even restart operations if geopolitical conditions improve
