Canadian oil sands producers cut their carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e) per barrel produced in 2009, according to an exclusive CanOils analysis of newly-released official data. Integrated producers (companies that both produce and upgrade bitumen) emitted an average of 123 kg of CO2e emissions per barrel of syncrude produced in 2009 against 150 kg in 2008, while emissions from in situ projects were down for a second consecutive year, emitting 93 kg for every bitumen barrel of production compared with more than 110kg in 2007. However, these per barrel emissions remain higher than 5 years ago, partly reflecting the build-up of oil sands production in recent years. In the early stages of project start-up, companies need to inject more steam relative to bitumen output, thereby increasing per barrel CO2 equivalent emissions. (See Notes below)
While total CO2e emissions have grown consistently with increased production over recent years - up 42.5% form 2004 to 2009 – lower per barrel emissions represent hard won efficiencies for the oil sands project operators. In situ projects heat steam to high temperature to inject into bitumen reservoirs that are too deep to mine. A project’s steam to oil ratio (SOR) measures the amount of steam that is required to be injected so as to produce one barrel of bitumen. Operators have implemented a wide range of methods to improve these operating efficiencies, applying improved technologies, heat recycling equipment, and solvent assisted recovery. As a result of these efforts, the average 2009 project SOR was 4.03, down from 4.27 in 2008.
By project, Cold Lake is the largest of the in situ emitters of green house gas (GHG), producing a total of 4,235,313 tonnes of CO2e emissions in 2009. Peace River and Christina Lake projects produced a total of 98,873 and 237,148 tonnes of CO2e respectively, and achieved the most efficient per barrel CO2e emissions ratio during these operations, 43.8 and 48.8 CO2e (kg/bbl) respectively. Christina Lake and Jackfish offered the most improved performance in GHG emissions at 35% reductions in CO2e per barrel between 2008 and 2009. In total, nine of the fourteen projects operational between 2008 and 2009 cut their average CO2e emissions on a per barrel basis. Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction accounted for 24% of total Canadian GHG emissions…
