Alberta's Pathways carbon capture plan stalls over cost‑sharing

Alberta and the federal government signed a sweeping energy accord that pairs a proposed one‑million‑barrel‑per‑day oil pipeline to the West Coast with a carbon‑offset requirement. The “Pathways” initiative, put forward by the Oil Sands Alliance (Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus, Imperial Oil, Suncor and ConocoPhillips Canada), aims to capture and store up to 16 million tonnes of CO₂ annually from oilsands operations by 2035. The plan calls for a more‑than‑650‑km pipeline network to transport liquefied CO₂ from 13 sites north of Fort McMurray to a storage hub in Cold Lake, where the gas would be injected into deep Cambrian sandstone.

Negotiations on how to share the multibillion‑dollar costs remain unresolved. An April 1 deadline for a three‑way agreement was missed, and the project’s $16.5 billion first‑phase investment estimate has not been updated. Industry leaders cite the federal investment tax credit and Alberta’s 12 % grant programme as helpful but insufficient, leaving the pathway to funding and implementation uncertain.