A Peters & Co report in the Calgary Herald on oilsands productions is expecting strong growth over the next few years before production numbers fall short of previous forecasts for 2020.
Peters & Co is a Calgary based investment bank. The report was released before Suncor’s announcement on Tuesday that it will slash $1 billion from its capital expenditures in 2015, layoff 1,000 workers and kill up to $800 million dollars in operating expenses, but the cuts are not expected to change the outlook Peters said.
The report says production is expected to fall 12% short of 2020 forecasts made a year ago, but it predicts 425,000 bpd of production capacity will be added this year with the biggest gains seen in 2016 as projects ramp up.
It expects an additional 200,000 to 300,000 bpd over the next three to four years, bringing total production volumes to nearly three million barrels per day by 2020.
In the Herald article the report says that additional capcity being brought on stream in the oilsands will represent some of the largest crude oil productions globally over the next several years.
Peters predicts that the Kirby North Phase 1 project which was shelved by CNRL on Monday will reach first production by 2019, two years after the original production target.
It also speculates that between 200,000 to 300,000 bpd in unsanctioned projects could come online after 2018.
According to the Herald article the report also states that any consistent price below $80 US per barrel will limit future capital investments.
Here is the link to the original article in the Calgary Herald, published on Jan. 13, 2015 – http://calgaryherald.com/business/energy/strong-oilsands-growth-still-forecast-despite-low-oil-prices
