Commentary
The term “decarbonized oil” is popping up more and more in discussions of Canada’s energy politics. The concept refers to capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO₂) generated during oil production and processing, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in order to support the continued strength of the oil and natural gas sector, Canada’s number one export earner and crucial to the economies of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Projects like the Weyburn Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration Project in Saskatchewan have demonstrated the idea’s technical feasibility by sequestering 1.7 million tonnes of CO₂ annually while producing incremental oil.
The key question now is whether this type of process can be dramatically scaled up—by anywhere from six to over 20 times—to facilitate what Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has termed a “grand bargain”: using carbon capture and storage (CCS) to gain a green light from the federal government for a new oil export line to the West Coast, enabling Alberta to continue growing oil production and generating jobs while advancing Ottawa’s climate goals. Prime Minister Mark Carney may be prone to hedging and ambiguity, but he has now made it clear that any such pipeline will indeed be contingent on Alberta proving it can “decarbonize” its oil production….