Alberta Carbon Pricing System Fails to Dent Oil Sands Profits

The carbon pricing system in Alberta has been shown to have little impact on oil sands profits, according to a recent report by G. Kent Fellows, a fellow-in-residence for the C.D. Howe Institute.

The report analyzed how changes to Alberta's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system, following the province's MOU with the federal government signed last year, would affect oil sands companies.

Fellows found that the updated pricing schedule effectively makes the carbon tax a marginal cost for producers, as facilities will pay less than $2 per barrel on average under the new system.