Canada to help fund carbon capture project at Shell upgrader

09 October 2009 15:13  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Canada will spend Canadian dollars (C$) 865m ($824m) to help fund a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Shell-led Scotford oil sands upgrader project in the Alberta province, company and government officials said on Friday.

The federal and Alberta provincial governments will contribute the money under a letter of intent signed with Shell Canada, they said. Shell Canada media officials were not available for immediate comment.

Federal natural resources minister Lisa Raitt said in a statement that CCS was the most viable emission-reducing technology for Canada.

The country has come under mounting international criticism over rising emissions from Alberta’s oil sands, in particular from the US where President Barack Obama has highlighted the industry as a concern.

In California, officials have talked about banning the import of oil from the oil sands into the state because of the large carbon footprint of the Alberta extraction projects. The US is the largest market for Canadian oil and gas exports.

Meanwhile, Canada’s chemicals industry is looking to offgases from oil sands and bitumen upgrading as an important source of feedstocks to expand capacities and build new petrochemical plants.

($1 = C$1.05)

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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