Page 4 - NorthAmOil Week 01 2023

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

Pathways Alliance takes step

forward with CCS plan

Canada’s Pathways Alliance is set to begin evaluating a proposed carbon

dioxide storage site after signing an agreement with the provincial

government of Alberta

ALBERTA THE Pathways Alliance, which consists of six – initially known as the Oilsands Pathways to Net
producers accounting for 95% of Canadian oil Zero alliance – was formed by Canadian Natural
WHAT: sands output, is taking a step forward with its Resources Ltd (CNRL), Cenovus Energy, Impe-
The Pathways Alliance is plans to decarbonise its production. The group, rial Oil, MEG Energy and Suncor Energy in mid-
set to start assessing the which aims to have net-zero greenhouse gas 2021. In November 2021, ConocoPhillips joined
geology of a proposed (GHG) emissions from its oil sands output by the group.
underground CO2 storage 2050, is looking to carbon capture and storage Shortly prior to ConocoPhillips’ joining, the
site. (CCS) to achieve its goal. Pathways Alliance set out a three-phase plan
This week, it announced that it had entered for eliminating 68mn tonnes of emissions from
WHY: into an agreement with the provincial govern- the oil sands between 2021 and 2050. The first
CCS is key to the group’s ment of Alberta that enables it to immediately phase, entailing the elimination of 22mn tonnes,
plan of achieving net zero start a geological evaluation of a proposed was anticipated to last until 2030, though the
emissions from Alberta’s underground carbon dioxide (CO2) storage group cautioned that emissions reductions for
oil sands by 2050. site. The site would form part of a CCS hub that each phase were based on assumptions that were
the Pathways Alliance says would be one of the current at the time and were subject to subse-
WHAT NEXT: world’s largest. Under the group’s proposal, the quent adjustments if necessary. However, as this
The group also recently hub would be connected to a transportation would account for almost one-third of the total
warned the federal pipeline that would be used to gather and store volume of emissions involved, there was no time
Canadian government emissions from 14 oil sands projects in Alberta to waste, and yet major decarbonisation projects
that its nearer-term by 2030. Subsequently, the transportation such as this one have been slow to get off the
emissions targets could network would be expanded to serve over 20 ground.
be too challenging for the oil sands facilities, as well as catering to other This may be partly attributable to the fact
industry. industries in the region that may be interested that producers embarking on ambitious
in using CCS to decarbonise. decarbonisation initiatives are banking on the
emergence of technological advances that will
Step forward help them eliminate emissions more quickly
The move represents a step forward for an ini- towards the end of this decade. In addition,
tiative that is still in its early days. The group though, oil and gas companies globally have

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 05•January•2023