Canada Oil Sands Output Fully Recovers from Covid

Canadian oil sands production has fully recovered from last year’s Covid-19 shock, according to IHS Markit.
The company, which highlighted that this shock saw the largest contraction of upstream production in Canadian history, said the production has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, but warned that lingering Covid impacts, pipeline constraints, and uncertainties related to an accelerating energy transition have reduced the long term growth projection for oil sands.
The latest forecast by the IHS Markit Oil Sands Dialogue expects Canadian oil sands production to hit 3.6 million barrels per day (MMbpd) in 2030, which marks an increase of 650,000 barrels per day compared to 2021 levels. The previous IHS Markit forecast expected production to reach 3.8 MMbpd in 2030.
“Canadian oil sands production recovered rapidly to exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020 and the outlook for longer term growth remains substantial,” Kevin Birn, the vice president and head of Canadian oil market at IHS Markit, said in a company statement.
“Nevertheless, lingering impacts from the Covid-19 shock, delays to critical transportation infrastructure, and rising energy transition pressures have trimmed that growth outlook from previous estimates,” he added.
“Although oil prices have rebounded and even exceeded pre-pandemic levels, producers are prioritizing rebuilding their balance sheets, paying down debt and returning cash to shareholders … These trends, which will delay a rise in upstream spending in the oil sands, factored into the reduction in the IHS Markit long term growth expectation,” Birn went on to say.
As of June 24, there have been more than 1.4 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Canada, with 26,155 deaths, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO). As of June 18, a total of 30.8 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country, WHO data shows.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Oil Prices Have Been in Turbulent Downtrend Since Mid-2022
- How Critical Is Cyber Security for Offshore Oil and Gas Installations?
- UK Prime Minister Creates New Energy Security Dept
- Warmer Start To 2023 Drops US Natural Gas Price Forecast
- Calls For New Global Profits Windfall Taxes Are Misleading, OEUK Said
- Chinese Wind Companies Set For Expansion
- USA EIA Reveals Latest Oil Price Forecast
- US Gas Producers Looking To Diversify With LNG Exports
- India Rushes to Long-Term LNG Deals
- 3 Climate Takeaways From Biden's Second State of the Union
- Shell CEO Says World 'Desperately In Need' Of Natural Gas
- Fate Of $8Bn Alaska Oil Project To Be Resolved In Next 30 Days
- What Would War-End Mean for Global Oil and Gas?
- OPEC+ Exports Show Russia Surges While Saudi Arabia Dials Back
- Gov't Tampering Puts Australian Gas Market In Unenviable Position
- Fed Will Be One Of The Leading Oil Price Drivers in 2023
- Signs of Progress at Freeport LNG
- Oil Posts Second Weekly Loss as Stockpiles Swell
- Lukoil Hits 50 Million Tons Of Hydrocarbon Production In Caspian Sea
- Texas Power Outages Increase As Ice Storm Persists
- Valaris Employee Reported Missing from Rig
- Gasoline and Diesel Prices Expected to Fall
- New SPR Bill Passes House
- Is the USA Shale Boom Over?
- Higher Oil Prices Have Not Led to More Exploration
- Shell Finds Gas In Pensacola High-Impact Well Off UK
- Iran Oil Gushes Into Global Market
- What Bad Habits Should Oil and Gas Jobseekers Avoid?
- Will Oil Hit $100 Per Barrel in 2023?
- Eni, Chevron Make Significant Gas Discovery Off Egypt