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Marketability of Canadian bitumen : challenges and opportunities

University of British Columbia

The thesis examines challenges and opportunities for the Canadian oil sands industry in the three most important markets: the USA, currently the sole export destination, and the European Union and China, the two largest potential consumers of highly carbon-intensive Canadian bitumen. Gradually falling demand for oil imports and increasing carbon consciousness in the American market threaten to impose constraints on the further development of Alberta`s oil sands and prompt the industry to look for alternative export destinations. Energy security concerns in the European Union amid the crisis in Ukraine, and in China due to political instability in the Middle East trump environmental policies of the two jurisdictions and present an opportunity for the Canadian bitumen industry to tap into these markets. However, the current infrastructure constraints stemming from formidable public opposition to the construction of new oil pipelines render Canada unable to capitalize on this opportunity. The long-term future of Alberta`s oil sands is therefore far from certain.

Text

2014-09-25

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50424

Political Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/