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Government received 'bitumen bubble' warning as early as 2002

It’s a catchy phrase, but it turns out the term ‘bitumen bubble’ isn’t all that new.

The Edmonton Journal reports that the government has been warned about the drop in price of bitumen since at least 2002.

That’s when Shell exec Neil Camarta warned the government that the oil sands would suffer the same fate as natural gas did in the 1990s, before a new pipeline was built to ease the pressure.

In her television address last month, Premier Alison Redford called the price discount sudden and unprecedented.

But data shows the discount for Alberta oil was actually higher just a few months before Redford became Premier.

February 25, 2013