Going green, takes a lot of green

FP: Green oil would cost US$105 a barrel: CERI

"Canada's oil sands can meet the challenge of turning "dirty oil" into "green bitumen," but oil prices would have to climb as high as US$105 a barrel to pay for the cost of integrating new technologies, according to a study by the Canadian Energy Research Institute."

"Study co-author David McColl, research director at CERI, said carbon capture and storage would be the cheapest option, costing an additional US$2.25 to produce a barrel of bitumen and suggesting oil prices would have to be US$85 a barrel for projects to be economic. Carbon capture would involve capturing carbon at the source and piping it into depleting reservoirs for storage, or into producing reservoirs to enhance hydrocarbon recovery.

Gasification, a new technology that is being pioneered by Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada Inc. at their recently completed Long Lake oil-sands project, would add US$13.50 a barrel, suggesting oil prices would have to be about US$95 a barrel for projects to be economic. Gasification involves producing synthetic gas from bitumen waste, eliminating the need to use natural gas..."