How Canada’s oil sands transformed into one of North America’s lowest-cost energy producers
Giant shovels, driverless trucks and a dog-like robot have all helped Canada’s oil sands companies including Imperial Oil and Suncor become some of North America’s lowest-cost oil producers, driving down overheads even as the worst inflation in a generation pushed U.S. shale costs up.
As the global oil industry enters a downturn due to economic uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs policy and OPEC+ pumping more barrels, Canada’s oil sands industry finds itself in a position of strength.In the years following the oil price crash of 2014-15, international oil majors including BP, Chevron and Total sold their interests in Canadian oil sands.At the time, they classified the Canadian operations as among their more expensive, and therefore less profitable, projects worldwide.They directed their ca...
