(Reuters) – Absolute greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from Canadian oil sands production were flat in 2022 even as total output grew, according to an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Absolute emissions held steady at 81 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MMTCO2) in 2022 while total production topped 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd), a gain of more than 50,000 bpd, the report added.
Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and Alberta is the highest-emitting province, largely due to vast oil sands operations in the northern boreal forest. The country’s oil sands produce some of the world’s most carbon-intense crude.
Alberta oil production makes up about 80% of Canada’s total oil production.
Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and Suncor Energy are major producers of crude from the oil sands.
“We do not believe that absolute emissions from the Canadian oil sands have peaked, but it may be close,” Kevin Birn, Canadian oil markets chief analyst, S&P Global Commodity Insights, said in the report.
“The potential stalling of emissions growth in 2022 is a clear signal that oil sands absolute emissions will indeed peak and begin to decline, perhaps sooner than previously expected,” Birn added.
The flattening of absolute emissions in 2022 amid rising production came from industry-wide GHG intensity improvements, the report said.
Alberta in April released a climate plan aimed at cutting emissions to net-zero by 2050.
S&P Global expects the trend of oil sands GHG intensity reductions to continue and even accelerate in coming years.
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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