Overview
- Canadian Natural, which reported results Thursday, advanced engineering on two steam-driven projects but kept an $8.25‑billion mine expansion on hold and said long‑term oil sands growth needs a new Pacific Coast pipeline.
- Talks to finalize the Alberta–Ottawa energy agreement slipped past the April 1 deadline over how fast Alberta moves from a $95 to a $130‑per‑tonne industrial carbon price, with a federal source telling The Globe and Mail a deal could come within one to three weeks.
- Ottawa says any West Coast pipeline approval depends on firm industrial carbon pricing and progress on a large carbon capture plan, with the Energy Minister’s office calling carbon capture a key pillar for cutting oil and gas emissions.
- The Oil Sands Alliance on Monday criticized what it called an uncompetitive industrial carbon tax and pressed for friendlier rules, while climate and clean‑energy groups this week urged the government to deliver the agreed pricing and scale domestic clean power.
- The Pathways plan would pipe captured CO2 about 400 kilometres to a storage hub near Cold Lake to cut roughly 22 megatonnes a year, and independent analysts say a $130 price would add about 50 cents per barrel, a point now central to the competitiveness fight.