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Managing CO2

Producing, transporting and refining oil products creates CO₂ emissions but the majority are emitted when fuels are burned. Viewed from this life-cycle perspective, fuels derived from oil sands emit around 5-15% more CO₂ than from the average barrel of conventional crude consumed in the US. We are working to close this gap by improving our energy efficiency and pursuing a project to capture and store CO₂ from our Scotford Upgrader.

Fuels come from a variety of feedstocks and are produced, distributed and used in different ways. This means the total CO₂emissions over their life cycle – known as well-to-wheels – varies. Conventional heavier crudes, for example, are harder to extract than lighter ones. This requires extra energy that results in more emissions. Oil from oil sands produces around 5-15% more CO₂ emissions compared to the average barrel of conventional crude consumed in the US.

Life cycle CO2 emissions from different crudes

Energy efficiency

Fuel derived from oil sands is 5-15% more GHG intensive than fuel derived from conventional oil.

Since 1990 companies have cut the energy intensity of oil sands production by 27%. Currently the total oil sands industry accounts for around 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

At our oil sands project in Canada we have taken measures to save energy, for example by installing a co-generation plant at the Muskeg River Mine. The plant recycles energy by capturing waste heat from electricity production and emits less than half the CO₂ per unit of electricity than using the local power grid.

We recently developed a new technology called Shell Enhance to improve energy efficiency in processing the oil sands. First we add warm water to make the oil rise to the surface of the sand in a frothy mixture. We then process the frothy mixture to remove impurities. Our new technology, applied here for the first time commercially, works at higher temperatures than conventional processing. It requires less water and less energy, preventing the release of about 40,000 tonnes a year of greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon capture and storage

We are leading a project to capture CO₂ emissions from our Scotford Upgrader processing plant and store them underground. The upgrader converts the heavy oil from the oil sands into lighter crudes. Our project, called Quest, would capture over one million tonnes of CO₂ per year, equivalent to taking 175,000 cars off the road. It is currently in the planning phase, while the governments of Alberta and Canada have announced they would provide over CDN $800 million to support the project.