The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has asked the federal government to provide 75 percent of the funding necessary for building carbon capture capabilities, Reuters has reported, citing a senior CAPP official.
The association's proposal is for the funding to take the form of tax credits for the industry, which is being increasingly pressured to reduce its emissions footprint.
CAPP argued that carbon capture is more challenging-and costlier-for oil producers because the CO2 they need to capture is emitted in lower concentrations than in some other industries, such as fertilizer production.
"Because of that, this (credit) needs to be designed to drive a balance and reflect the economic realities," Ben Brunnen, CAPP's oil sands VP, told Reuters. "The government role should be providing the playing field to enable companies to make these investments."
Canada has doubled down on its climate ambitions, with the Liberals vowing before this year's election that they would work towards making the country's oil and gas sector net-zero by 2050 by "Making sure the oil and gas sector reduces emissions from current levels at a pace and scale needed to achieve net-zero by 2050, with 5-year targets starting in 2025," and by "Requiring oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions by at least 75% below 2012 levels by 2030."
Plans include financial support for the industry in order to make the energy transition just. The support proposed prior to the vote was to the tune of $1.58 billion for Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Trudeau government is already considering a tax incentive for the oil and gas industry to help with emissions-cutting efforts. The size discussed, however, remains to be decided, as does its implementation. Carbon capture is not among the favorite emission-tackling tools for many environmentalists who consider it too costly to be worth it. They also believe it motivates continued fossil fuel production.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More