Alberta's Carbon Price Has Minuscule Impact on Oil Sands Costs

A new study from the C.D. Howe Institute found that Alberta's industrial carbon price has had only a small effect on the cost of producing oil sands crude.

The report, published by economist G. Kent Fellows, finds that Alberta's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system added an average of just C$0.70 per barrel to oil sands marginal production costs in 2023.

This is small compared with oil sands operating costs, which range from C$21 to C$65 per barrel for 99% of operators.