oilsands

Until now, successive Alberta and federal governments have given the oilsands companies an easy environmental ride, possibly fearing that too much scrutiny could jeopardize a huge economic driver.

More than three decades after Indigenous leaders in northern Alberta began asking for funding to better understand if pollution from the oilsands was making their people sick, the federal government is funding a study to do just that.

In the latest version of its annual forecast, released Monday, the Alberta Energy Regulator predicts production of raw bitumen will grow to four million barrels per day in 2033, up from the 3.4 million barrels per day that was produced last year.

The consortium has previously spent millions of dollars on a countrywide public relations blitz aimed at demonstrating that the oilsands is committed to helping fight climate change. But as of Thursday, all that remains on the group's website is a notice saying Pathways has removed its content due to concerns around an anti-greenwashing provision in federal Bill C-59.

Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz says that holding the oil and gas sector to the promises it has made Canadians in its messaging would be "crippling." If that is true, then it suggests those promises don’t hold up to any real scrutiny.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says a major federal tax credit to help build carbon capture projects is almost in place, and she wants to see quick progress on the project promised by Canada's biggest oilsands firms.

Huge soaker hoses are being used to help protect buildings, homes and vital routes into and out of the Alberta city against wildfire flames that have forced the evacuation of four neighbourhoods.

A consortium of Canada's largest oilsands companies will submit an application before the end of the week for approval of its proposed $16.5-billion carbon capture pipeline project.

Suncor said it is in the process of conducting early-stage technical and commercial feasibility assessments to determine the quality and quantity of mineable bitumen ore in the area, which is located within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta and on the Fort McKay First Nation's traditional territory.

The Calgary-based company said Thursday it saw its second-highest quarterly production ever in the fourth quarter of 2023, with output of 808,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

No amount of money we invest in our oil and gas industry is going to reverse the decline.

Authors of a report published in the journal Science, say the massive releases of volatile organic compounds, separate from the industry's climate-change-causing emissions, raise concerns about what those hundreds of complex, highly reactive chemicals are doing in the environment. 

Alberta needs an open public inquiry into how the province ensures oilsands producers can pay to clean up after themselves, says a report released Wednesday by a group of university researchers.

The alliance head of Canada’s major oilsands producers says he is "a bit mystified" by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s reaction to the federal government's plan to cut methane emissions.

Alberta's New Democrat Opposition and a prominent First Nations leader are calling for a review of the province's energy regulator to be held in public, with public input.