Opportunity Crudes

Two oil-producing nations in the Western Hemisphere are facing different challenges: Canadian oilsands encountering climate scrutiny coupled with political rhetoric during the country's election and Venezuelan tarsands seeking ways to sustain production and outside assistance to survive.

Canadian oil output has rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels and is expected to grow over the coming years.

After requesting on Aug. 11 that OPEC+ raise supply in order to keep fuel prices from spiking too severely, the US Biden administration has been facing pushback from home and abroad, particularly from Canada, which has a symbiotic relationship with the US.

The completion of the Canadian government's Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) will add 590K b/d in takeaway capacity, on top of 300K b/d in existing pipeline capacity, from Edmonton, AB to Burnaby, BC, helping accommodate nearly 600K b/d in incremental heavy crude production from Alberta and providing increased access to markets in Asia.

The Venezuelan state energy firm exported an average of 713,097 b/d of oil last month, the highest monthly export level since Feb. and the second consecutive month it tallied a month-on-month uptick in oil exports as PDVSA offset loading delays at its main port by boosting ship-to-ship transfers, according to tracking data and documents.

As Canada commits to attaining net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, upstream and downstream firms as well as midstream operators have been working on their compliance plans.

The Swedish oil and gas firm claims it has completed the sale of the world's first crude cargo certified as carbon neutral at the point of production to Italian refiner Saras.

According to an internal "Operational Follow-up Plan" report reviewed by S&P Global Platts over H2 the Venezuelan state energy firm will restart the drilling of oil wells while intensifying work to open 3.7K shuttered wells and to recover compression and gas injection capacity needed to increase crude output from 479K b/d in April to an average of 1MM b/d for this year.

The latest estimates from the IHS Markit Oil Sands Dialogue show oilsands output in Canada has risen above pre-COVID-19 levels.

The Calgary-based pipeline company teamed up with the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group to form the Chinook Pathways Partnership, which seeks a stake in the Trans Mountain Pipeline after the expansion project to increase capacity from 300K b/d to 890K b/d is completed.