Canada’s oil patch cuts back climate efforts under pandemic

This year, top producers Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus Energy have cut a combined C$1.8bil (US$1.32bil) in planned spending on green initiatives as losses mount due to economic lockdowns that have hammered oil demand.

TORONTO: Canadian oil sands companies have shelved nearly C$2bil (US$1.47bil) in green initiatives in a cost-cutting drive to weather the coronavirus pandemic, a reversal in some of their commitments to reduce emissions and clean up their dirty-oil image.

International oil firms left Canada in droves in recent years due to the high costs to turn a profit in the sector. Some investors and banks, meanwhile, halted financing in part to pressure the world’s fourth-largest crude producer to reduce the environmental impact of oil-sands production.