Oilsands industry faces challenges

CALGARY (CP) – Aggressive plans to boost Canadian crude oil production by at least 50 per cent in the next decade to 2.3 million barrels a day are expected to be carried on the shoulders of the rapidly expanding northern Alberta oilsands.

But a series of high-profile incidents, explosions and shutdowns have shown that the complex process of squeezing oil out of the cold, gluey sand is fraught with setbacks and risk.

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