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Globe and Mail:$100 oil puts a new shine on Alberta (Jan 3, 2008)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/Business
Record prices will fuel the world`s interest in the oil sands, even as extraction costs soar
QUOTE Deepening nervousness over long-term global energy supplies will put Canada`s rich oil sands even more in the global energy spotlight, economists said yesterday as crude touched $100 (U.S.) a barrel for the first time.
Observers said the high development and production costs associated with the massive, complex Athabasca oil sands deposit are becoming less of an obstacle to investors, both inside and outside Canada. At the same time, the underlying source of oil`s unprecedented price climb - fears that new oil supplies are becoming fewer and harder to exploit, while demand from the developing world is growing rapidly - also points to the oil sands, the world`s biggest largely untapped oil source.
"These levels are enough to make Canadian oil sands a lot more important as a focus of the global energy industry," said CIBC World Markets Inc. chief economist Jeff Rubin.
...
He called such price levels "a major validation" of the multibillion-dollar oil sands projects proposed over the next decade, and suggested they could also trigger a wave of international takeovers of Canadian companies with a strong foothold in the oil sands.
...
"This is very good for the oil sands," said University of Calgary economist Frank Atkins, noting that total oil sands costs are running at about $50 a barrel.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/Business
Record prices will fuel the world`s interest in the oil sands, even as extraction costs soar
QUOTE Deepening nervousness over long-term global energy supplies will put Canada`s rich oil sands even more in the global energy spotlight, economists said yesterday as crude touched $100 (U.S.) a barrel for the first time.
Observers said the high development and production costs associated with the massive, complex Athabasca oil sands deposit are becoming less of an obstacle to investors, both inside and outside Canada. At the same time, the underlying source of oil`s unprecedented price climb - fears that new oil supplies are becoming fewer and harder to exploit, while demand from the developing world is growing rapidly - also points to the oil sands, the world`s biggest largely untapped oil source.
"These levels are enough to make Canadian oil sands a lot more important as a focus of the global energy industry," said CIBC World Markets Inc. chief economist Jeff Rubin.
...
He called such price levels "a major validation" of the multibillion-dollar oil sands projects proposed over the next decade, and suggested they could also trigger a wave of international takeovers of Canadian companies with a strong foothold in the oil sands.
...
"This is very good for the oil sands," said University of Calgary economist Frank Atkins, noting that total oil sands costs are running at about $50 a barrel.