Pipeline infrastructure will influence Canadian oilsands investment

A fuller analysis of the new IHS Markit oilsands production forecast, authored by Kevin Birn, Executive Director, IHS Markit – who heads the Oil Sands Dialogue – is available at the IHS Markit energy blog.

Canadian oilsands have gained importance to the heavy oil market as the only source of material supply growth in the world for that type of crude. Output from other large producers of heavy oil – most notably Venezuela, where production has fallen by more than 1 million bpd in recent years and is expected to fall further – has declined.

Despite this increased prominence in heavy oil markets and higher oil prices in recent months, the new outlook still expects production growth to moderate after 2019, similar to previous IHS Markit expectations for oilsands production.

The strong growth in the near term is expected to come from the completion of projects sanctioned prior to the oil price collapse, the revival of some deferred projects as well as some new investments in capital efficiency projects.

Following 2019, uncertainties related to much-needed infrastructure – particularly pipeline takeaway capacity – point to a deceleration of growth, IHS Markit says.

“Pipeline constraints have exacerbated price discounts for Western Canadian heavy oil relative to global benchmarks. Over the past 12 months alone, the difference in price compared to a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has fluctuated just under US$10/bbl to more than US$30,” Birn said. “This sort of price volatility is weighing on investment decisions in western Canada and will likely continue to do so until greater certainty can be achieved.”

Nevertheless, the IHS Markit outlook does continue to project growth in part due to the unique nature of oilsands projects, which do not experience production declines, meaning that any incremental investment can add to existing production and contribute to growth. This represents a strategic advantage for oilsands asset owners coming out of a low-price period in that there is no production deficit to overcome. IHS Markit also expects greater crude-by-rail movements to help pick up the slack in the interim and for new pipelines to be built eventually.

“Over the long term, the timing of the new pipelines will be key,” Birn said. “Even when greater certainty on infrastructure is achieved, it will take time for the impact of subsequent investment decisions to play out on production growth because of the lead time involved in oilsands development. The current growth trajectory was a long time in the making, it has taken a time to slow, and it will take time to recover.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/17072018/pipeline-infrastructure-will-influence-canadian-oilsands-investment/