IEA; New Emissions From Canada's Oilsands Extremely Low

[Anonymous]

As I have said before, too many people see images of a mature Syncrude open-pit mine with a giant upgrader beside it and assume(or try to con others) that is the oilsands, but nothing could be further from the truth. New methods of extraction have made Canada's oilsands not only the most technologically advanced heavy-oil play in the world, but new projects leave the smallest environmental impact as well.



It's not likely the big-monied professional protesters blocking a survey for twinning Transmountain will want you to know this. It's not likely Keystone opponents like Neil Young, Darryl Hannah or Robert Redford want these facts becoming public knowledge either.

New emissions from Canada's oil sands 'extremely low,' says IEA's chief economist.



There is a lot of discussion on oil sands projects in Canada and the United States and other parts of the world, but to be frank, the additional CO2 emissions coming from the oil sands is extremely low," Mr. Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency and one of the world's foremost energy economists, said in an interview.



The IEA forecasts that in the next 25 years oil sands production in Canada will increase by more than three million barrels per day, "but the emissions of this additional production is equal to only 23 hours of emissions of China — not even one day," Mr. Birol said in a phone interview from Ottawa.



The challenge between reining in environmental impacts and fuelling the global economy will continue to play out over the next few decades. Despite the best efforts of developed countries to reduce their carbon footprint, the emerging economies of the world are offsetting the decline. For each barrel of oil eliminated from consumption in OECD countries, two additional barrels of oil are expected to be consumed in the developing world, the IEA estimates.



Indeed, Canadian and Brazilian production will be the two major non-OPEC countries expanding production beyond 2020s, while Russian, Chinese, U.S. and Kazkahstani production declines. U.S. production will likely fall to 10 million barrels per day by 2040, from 10.3 million bpd last year, as the country exhausts its shale reserves.



Meanwhile, Canadian total oil production is expected to rise 2.3% annually to reach 7.4 million bpd by 2040 from four million today. The oil sands will be among the fastest-growing unconventional in the world, growing 3.7% annually during the period.



I think the oil sands projects are more to resistant to other high-cost jurisdictions such as American light, tight oil, Brazilian offshore oil projects or the Arctic," Mr. Birol said in the interview this week, before OPEC's decision to maintain oil production sent U.S. crude oil prices below US$70 for the first time in four years. "If the prices go down further they would put downward pressure on new investments but Canadian oil sands are one of the most resistant ones compared to others."

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/11/27/new-emissions-from-canadas-oil-sands-extremely-low-says-ieas-chief-economist/?__lsa=a582-ff02">http://business.financialpost.com/2014/ ... =a582-ff02">http://business.financialpost.com/2014/11/27/new-emissions-from-canadas-oil-sands-extremely-low-says-ieas-chief-economist/?__lsa=a582-ff02