Researchers for California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard have recently released new data measuring the carbon intensity of various crude oil blends, including diluted bitumen (a.k.a. ‘dilbit’) and upgraded synthetic crude oil (‘SCO’) from the Canadian oilsands. The Californian findings will not be well-received by anti-oilsands activists.
Among the findings that may surprise:
• There are 13 oil fields in California, plus crude oil blends originating in at least six other countries, that generate a higher level of upstream greenhouse gas emissions than Canadian dilbit blends;
• Crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope, which makes up about 12 per cent of California’s total crude slate, is actually “dirtier” than the Canadian dilbit known as “Access Western Blend”;
• The “dirtiest oil in North America” is not produced in Canada, but just outside Los Angeles, where the Placerita oil field generates about twice the level of upstream emissions as Canadian oilsands production; and
• The title of “world’s dirtiest oil” goes to Brass crude blend from Nigeria, where the uncontrolled release of methane during the oil extraction process generates upstream GHG emissions that are over four times higher than Canadian dilbit.
What can one take away from these findings?
From the perspective of the United States, the new data should allay President Obama’s concerns about the impact of the Keystone XL pipeline on climate change and the level of U.S. and global GHG emissions. In particular, California has confirmed the State Department’s analysis that the foreign crudes that would feed Gulf Coast refineries in the absence of Canadian bitumen generate comparable (and in some cases higher) carbon emissions.
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How clean is our ‘dirty’ oil? You’d be surprised.
Among the findings that may surprise:
• There are 13 oil fields in California, plus crude oil blends originating in at least six other countries, that generate a higher level of upstream greenhouse gas emissions than Canadian dilbit blends;
• Crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope, which makes up about 12 per cent of California’s total crude slate, is actually “dirtier” than the Canadian dilbit known as “Access Western Blend”;
• The “dirtiest oil in North America” is not produced in Canada, but just outside Los Angeles, where the Placerita oil field generates about twice the level of upstream emissions as Canadian oilsands production; and
• The title of “world’s dirtiest oil” goes to Brass crude blend from Nigeria, where the uncontrolled release of methane during the oil extraction process generates upstream GHG emissions that are over four times higher than Canadian dilbit.
What can one take away from these findings?
From the perspective of the United States, the new data should allay President Obama’s concerns about the impact of the Keystone XL pipeline on climate change and the level of U.S. and global GHG emissions. In particular, California has confirmed the State Department’s analysis that the foreign crudes that would feed Gulf Coast refineries in the absence of Canadian bitumen generate comparable (and in some cases higher) carbon emissions.
more
How clean is our ‘dirty’ oil? You’d be surprised.
