ENABLING PARTIAL UPGRADING IN ALBERTA: A REVIEW OF THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
One of the ways that Alberta can help alleviate its worsening bottleneck in oilexport pipelines is by partially upgrading oil sands bitumen before shipping it to market. Partial upgrading is the process of upgrading raw bitumen into a higher-value, lower-viscosity crude oil, resulting in an oil th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Calgary
2019-12-01
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| Series: | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v12i0.68199 |
| Summary: | One of the ways that Alberta can help alleviate its worsening bottleneck in oilexport pipelines is by partially upgrading oil sands bitumen before shipping it
to market. Partial upgrading is the process of upgrading raw bitumen into a
higher-value, lower-viscosity crude oil, resulting in an oil that can flow more
easily through pipelines but stopping short of a fully upgraded synthetic crude
oil product. In-province partial upgrading of bitumen can deliver important
benefits to Alberta’s economy. Compared to raw bitumen, partially upgraded
bitumen is (1) less costly to refine and therefore commands a higher price; (2)
transported directly via pipeline with reduced (or no) diluting agents, avoiding
the need to purchase costly condensate for blending; and (3) less viscous and
thus, per barrel of bitumen, requires less pipeline capacity compared to raw
bitumen, which ships with a high volume of blended condensate. Because of
these factors, partial upgrading would allow the province to ship more bitumen
via existing pipelines and at the lower tolls per barrel of bitumen extracted. |
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| ISSN: | 2560-8312 2560-8320 |