Post by
George98 on Dec 29, 2019 6:41am
Outlook 'brightened' for Alberta oil production
Outlook 'brightened' for Alberta oil production, Conference Board of Canada says
'We think this is going to be a bit of turning point for Alberta in 2020'
CBC News Posted: Dec, 2019 1:51 PM MT
Canada's energy sector is about to enter a period of sustained growth thanks to added pipeline capacity and more efficient use of existing infrastructure, according to a report released on Tuesday. The Conference Board of Canada's latest outlook summary predicts that several factors will conspire to boost production in the oilsands by an average of 4.2 per cent per year from 2020 to 2024. For example, pipeline optimization programs at Enbridge and TC Energy that use drag-reducing agents to increase the flow on current pipeline infrastructure will add up to 150,000 barrels per day by early January, says the report by the Matthew Stewart, the board's director of forecasting and analysis. "We think this is going to be a bit of turning point for Alberta in 2020," Stewart told CBC News. "Now, investment is still much, much lower than it was in 2014. So we have to keep that in context.
But the improvement in takeaway capacity will encourage some improvement in investment. And we think that should drive GDP to the top of the charts in Alberta in 2020," Stewart said.
The coming online of Enbridge's Line 3 will create an additional capacity of 370,000 barrels per day in 2021, and the Trans Mountain expansion project is expected to add another 590,000 barrels per day by 2023. "The outlook for production out of Alberta has brightened significantly, even as we head into the new year with curtailments still in place," says the report. "Canada's energy sector will put its recent poor performance in the rear-view mirror over the medium term as the LNG Canada project and new oilsands investment lead to an average annual gain of 4.4 per cent in real oil and gas investment."