Saturday, February 04, 2006
Imports from Canada expected to play major part in U.S. push to reduce its dependence on oil from Middle East
Hydraulic shovels load heavy haulers at the Muskeg River oilsands mine approximately 75 kilometres north of Fort McMurray in this file photo. Oilsands production is predicted to triple to three million barrels a day by 2020.
Photograph by : The Canadian Press, File
Sheldon Alberts with files from Paul Haavardsrud, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, February 04, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Energy is predicting crude oil from Alberta's oilsands -- not alternative energy sources such as biomass ethanol -- will help halve America's dependence on overseas oil within two decades.
The assessment, in a report to be released later this month, follows President George W. Bush's challenge this week for the U.S. to sharply reduce its oil imports from unstable nations in the Middle East.
According to data obtained by the Reuters news agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates America's oil imports from Canada will almost double by 2025, from 1.6 million barrels a day to 2.7 million barrels a day.
The vast majority of that increased production will come from Alberta's oilsands, which are expected to triple production to as much as three million barrels a day by 2020.
"If (the United States) receives it all, which we don't have in our forecast, it could reduce even more our dependence on the Middle East," an energy department official told Reuters.
The U.S., however, isn't the only country with designs on Canadian oil.
Earlier this week, India's top energy official said his country could invest up to $1.5 billion in the next year to gain a toehold in the oilsands.
China, meanwhile, has already made overtures of its own, most notably, by throwing its clout behind Calgary-based Enbridge Inc.'s proposal to build a 400,000-barrel-a-day pipeline from Alberta to the west coast.
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