Shell grabs Canadian CCS cash
Wire reports
The Canadian and Alberta governments have promised C$865 million (US$823 million) to help Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell develop carbon capture and storage at its oil sands processing plant in an effort to help meet goals to curb global warming.
In a letter of intent, Alberta has signaled it will contribute C$745 million and Ottawa will kick in C$120 million for the Quest project at Shell's Scotford upgrader near Edmonton. The overall cost of the project was not immediately disclosed.
Shell's project was picked out of three that had made the short-list for public funding.
The governments had also weighed proposals from groups including Epcor and Enbridge as well as Enhance Energy and Northwest Upgrading.
Alberta is known for its vast oil sands, which represent the largest source of crude outside the Middle East.
But developing and producing the tar-like crude is carbon-intensive and environmental groups have launched major campaigns to warn of the developments' environmental impact on the fight against global warming.
Shell, with partners US giants Chevron and Marathon Oil, aim to capture 1.1 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, representing a cut of about 40% of those emissions from the upgrading plant.
In total, Alberta, which expects massive expansion of its oil sands industry, has set aside C$2 billion to invest in development of carbon capture schemes as it aims to reduce emissions by about 14% from 2005 levels by 2050.
Canada is aiming for an overall 20% reduction from 2006 levels by 2020.
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Thursday, 08 October, 2009, 19:02 GMT | last updated: Thursday, 08 October, 2009, 23:05 GMT
