Canadian oilsands gain importance as others cut exports

Alberta’s oilsands could put Canada “in the front ranks” of energy producers in a few years as other oil-producing countries reduce their exports, says CIBC World Markets.

The world’s leading oil countries are likely to see their exports drop by some 2.5 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, the CIBC’s investment arm said Monday.
“OPEC and other key oil producers like Russia and Mexico are struggling not only to grow production, but to manage their own soaring rates of domestic oil consumption,” the firm said in a release.

“This struggle will likely see their collective crude exports, which account for roughly 60 per cent of current world oil production, to fall by as much as seven per cent by 2010,” causing higher much higher oil prices.

“One of the few areas where production can be expanded significantly is the Canadian oilsands, a vast reservoir of bitumen whose extraction and refining economics are becoming increasingly attractive as world oil prices continue to set new highs,” said Jeff Rubin, chief economist and chief strategist at CIBC World Markets.

“Already at over a million barrels per day, production is slated to triple over the next decade and by 2020 could well be producing over four million barrels per day of synthetic crude, catapulting Canada to the front ranks of oil producers.”

Canadian Press