Canada’s Oil Industry Decarbonization Costs $65 Billion

RBC estimates that Canada’s oil sands producers will need to invest around $65 billion (US $51 billion) to lower their environmental footprint while expanding production in line with demand.

According to RBC analysts, Canada may increase its oil production by half a million barrels per day, but this would lead to annual carbon dioxide emissions of 9 million tonnes, which would cost over $1.5 billion to mitigate.

Between 2024 and 2030, Canadian oil companies will need to invest between $35.1 billion and $51 billion in carbon capture in order to decrease the impact of their production growth operations, Bloomberg said.

RBC economists Colin Guldimann and Yadullah Hussain released a report stating that carbon capture is crucial to meet Canada’s 22 million-ton emission reduction target in the Oil Sands Pathways Initiative.

Canadian crude oil is also becoming increasingly important for Western nations’ energy supply security, according to Guildimann. “What current events have really shown us is that oil and gas are, and are likely to remain, critical parts of our energy supply for at least the foreseeable future,” he said in an interview, also adding, “Crises can be clarifying moments.”

“We need a really concerted effort over the next 24 months or so in laying out the foundation for where emissions cuts can come from,” he told the Financial Post.

“Be that methane reductions, electrification of the oil and gas system, but also laying out major emissions plans, on top of what the government has already said, that include long-term decarbonization investments like carbon capture.”

Original source material for this article taken from here