Oil sands output to double by 2013: report

Output from Canada’s oil sands will double and profits in the oil business will triple by 2013 as rising crude prices kick-start mega-projects delayed by the economic downturn, the Conference Board of Canada said yesterday.

The board’s summer outlook for the Canadian oil-extraction business forecasts that crude prices driven south by the economic downturn will slash pre-tax profits for Canadian producers by 24% from the record $15.3-billion in 2008 to $11.6-billion in 2009.

But as the U.S. economy recovers, rising oil demand will lift prices to the point that Canada’s expensive and controversial oil sands projects become profitable again, said board economist Todd Crawford.

“The Canadian oil industry has long been a boom or bust industry, and that has been the case over the past year … but stimulus packages around the world will lead to improved performance starting in 2010.

National Post