A report from S&P Global Commodity Insights said on Thursday, stated that Canada’s oil sands will produce 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030, a 15% increase from current levels, as companies focus on investing in optimizing existing projects and making them more efficient.
Over the past decade, oil sands production has increased 1.3 million bpd and it currently stands at 3.3 million bpd. The new projection by S&P is 100,000 bpd higher than its previous growth forecast.
Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, with around two-thirds of its 4.9 million bpd of output coming from northern Alberta’s oil sands.
The report said production would plateau towards the end of the decade due to a slowing inventory of optimization projects, uncertainty stemming from a planned Canadian government oil and gas emissions cap and the need for new pipeline takeaway capacity as soon as 2026.
The oil sands hold the world’s third-largest bitumen reserves and the pace of production growth will impact global oil supplies as well as economic activity in Canada.
