Canadian and global climate change ambitions are generally associated with a goal of reducing reliance on fossil fuels as a mechanism to reduce carbon emissions. Within this context, the Canadian oil sands have been characterized as “too expensive” to maintain production if global crude oil...

Biophysical Economics is a school of heterodox economics built on the premise of the primacy of energy in the economic process. Despite significant progress made in the methodology of net-energy analysis, the literature on the relationships between the biophysical properties of energy sources,...

The development of the oil sands in Alberta has become a focal point in Canada’s response to global climate change. Before an oil sands project can proceed, it must first undergo environmental assessment. This process frequently engages both provincial and federal environmental assessment...

We study the behaviour of Canadian total factor productivity growth over the past 60 years. We find that the observed stagnation during the last 20 years is entirely accounted for by the Oil sector. Higher oil prices made capital-intensive sources of oil like the oil sands viable to extract on a...

Canada’s oil sands accounted for 63 percent of oil production in Canada in 2019.Royalties from oil sands production have been the source of 7.7 percent of Alberta’s revenues since 2008 (Alberta 2020). Alberta regularly reviews the royalty regimes in place for oil and natural gas extraction,...

As the most potential supplementary resource of conventional fossil energy, oil shale has attracted unprecedented attention. However, it has not been large-scale industrialization applied due to poor efficiency and high costs. This study develops autothermic pyrolysis in-situ conversion process...

As a party to the Paris Agreement, Canada has an ambitious climate target of net-zero emissions by 2050. The country also holds the world's third largest oil reserves in the Alberta oil sands. Given increasing emissions from the oil sands sector, achieving Canada's net-zero target requires...

The mothballing option has been studied in the literature, but mainly in decision theoretic frameworks. This paper looks at it from a strategic point of view and applies it to an incumbent-entrant framework. In particular, based on the recent strategic interactions between OPEC and the shale oil...

Oil sands, found in Canada, Venezuela, USA and Russia, contain bitumen, water, clay and some metals. Two different methods of producing oil from oil sands exist: open-pit mining and in situ. Approximately 20% of oil sands are recoverable through open-pit mining. After oil sand is mined, bitumen...

This paper examines Alberta’s record of industrial policy and proposes principles for future innovation-focused provincial policy. I find that the development of the key technology to unlock the majority of the Canadian oilsands — steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) — is an example of...

We analyze if the transmission of oil price shocks on the U.S. economy has changed with the shale oil boom. To do so, we put forward a framework that allows for spillovers between industries and learning by doing (LBD) over time. We identify these spillovers using a time-varying parameter...

We analyze if the transmission of oil price shocks on the U.S. economy has changed with the shale oil boom. To do so, we put forward a framework that allows for spillovers between industries and learning by doing (LBD) over time. We identify these spillovers using a time-varying parameter...

his article examines the governance regime for oil sands development in the Canadian province of Alberta with a view to highlighting what lessons Sub-Saharan African countries with oil sands deposits may draw from it for the sustainable development of their oil sands. Although investments in oil...

We evaluate the impact of internalizing the carbon emissions externality on new oil sands projects. Using data from recent oil sands projects and estimates of both the social costs of carbon and carbon prices consistent with meeting global climate change targets, we estimate the potential impact...

With the benefit of hindsight, this paper provides a fresh and comprehensive look at the causes of the 2014-16 collapse in oil prices and its impact on the global economy. It disentangles the contribution of supply and demand factors, assesses the impact on activity in oil exporters and oil...

Oil shale is the major indigenous fossil fuel in Jordan, yet it is not used at present. During the next few years, a commercial oil shale industry could develop in the country and grow to produce shale oil and/or electricity, which would substitute imported crude oil and petroleum products. The...

This paper suggests that the environmental and commercial features of shale gas extraction do not warrant a significantly different fiscal regime than recommended for conventional gas. Fiscal policies may have a role in addressing some environmental risks (e.g., greenhouse gases, scarce water,...

Fulfilling its campaign promise, the new NDP government announced a review of Alberta's royalty framework in June 2015. The province receives royalty revenue from three main sources – natural gas, crude oil, and oil sands. Since the 2009-10 fiscal year the largest contributor to Alberta's...

The Alberta government's 2009 New Royalty Framework elicited resistance on the part of the energy industry, leading to subsequent reductions in the royalties imposed on natural gas and conventional oil. However, the oil sands sector, subject to different terms, quickly accepted the new...

As Alberta Athabasca oil sands development increases, so do the oil sands industry's water requirements from the Athabasca River. In an attempt to address the competing interests of industry's needs and maintain sufficient instream flow in the River to support aquatic ecological needs, Alberta...

The Department of Defense (DOD) is one of the world’s single largest consumers of energy. In order to support global operations in hostile parts of the world, the DOD’s energy procuring agency, the Defense Logistics Agency Energy (DLA Energy), has been forced into the difficult position of...

Spurred on by mounting international concern about the environmental impacts of the oil sands and determined to secure Canada’s status as a global energy superpower, Canada and Alberta recently announced the establishment of a “world class” monitoring plan for the Lower Athabasca Region of...

Debates surrounding the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use of biofuels production have created a need to quantify the relative land use GHG intensity of fossil fuels. When contrasting land use GHG intensity of fossil fuel and biofuel production, it is the energy yield that greatly...

Background and analytical lens -- The oil sands and its discontents -- Regulating ¿sustainable development' of the oil sands resource -- The regulatory process -- The directing features of policy and strategy -- Issues with the "planning" stage of the regulatory process -- Issues with the...