Oil sands producers keep the reins tight
No extravagant spending is planned ahead of a capital-intensive push towards a lower carbon footprint
Canada’s oil sands producers are rolling in cash with crude oil prices hovering around $80/bl. But after suffering near death-experiences during the worst of the Covid crisis in the first half of 2020, and with net zero coming to dominate the global energy agenda, there is absolutely no talk in downtown Calgary of boosting capital spending to fund new oil sands mega-projects. Instead, major oil sands producers are talking continued capital discipline. Relatively modest production growth through debottlenecking current operations and small-scale brownfield projects is also on the agenda, especially with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committing at Cop26 in Glasgow to cap emissions on the count
Also in this section
10 November 2025
The Russian firm made a significant attempt to expand overseas over the past two decades but is now trying to divest its global operations
10 November 2025
OPEC+ has proven to be astute at bringing back oil production, but mysteries around Chinese buying, missing barrels and oil-on-water have left the group in wait-and-see mode
7 November 2025
The Russian company’s German assets are under Berlin’s management and are exempt from sanctions, for now, but a permanent solution still needs to be found
6 November 2025
After years of pursuing ideologically driven climate leadership, Western powers are now stepping back under mounting political pressure and rising populist opposition—prompting concern essential climate action could be sidelined






