Tar Sands And Peak Oil  

TreeHugger has a small post on the view of peak oil from the tar pits of western Canada - Tar Sands, Banking Crisis, & Peak Oil - Mired At The Crossroads.

As expected, investment in Alberta Tar Sand (what the industry likes to refer to as "oil sands") developments are being cut back a bit; but tar sands developers still expect to remain profitable, even if oil hits US$60/barrel.

Suncor Energy Inc., which last week rolled out massive spending cuts because of the credit crisis and slumping oil prices, said it will earn C$28 for every barrel of oil it produces should crude trade at US$60/barrel and Canadian dollar hover around US78 cents.

So, tar patch boys will survive the credit crunch. However, it appears that the real business opportunity for them comes after Peak Oil gets serious, and prices spike.

Rick George, the Suncor's chief executive is quoted as saying:

"The advantage that we have in the oil sands business on that is no decline curves – and you're going to see some big decline curves, I believe, worldwide – and no exploration costs."

No mention of climate change, of course. Making a business investment contingent on climate action is still, apparently, a non-starter for the North American business class.