The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Nov. 6, edition that Ottawa's draft regulations for an oil and gas emissions cap have sparked concern in the Canadian oil patch, seen as punitive toward domestic producers. The Post's Meghan Potkins writes that the rules, released on Monday, are viewed as a de facto cap on production in Western Canada, with many in the sector warning that price volatility and existing obligations could lead to companies shutting in production to meet the new requirements.
Precision Drilling chief executive officer Kevin Neveu says: "We'll be the only (oil and gas exporting) country in the world that's going to have an artificially higher cost due to the emissions cap and the efforts we'll need to invest in to reduce emissions to stay inside the cap. ... In order to abate emissions, you have to invest more and more money to do that. So, you have two choices: either invest more money to reduce emissions or reduce production to reduce emissions." Under the draft rules, upstream oil and gas producers, as well as oil sands and liquefied natural gas production facilities, will be required to cut emissions by an estimated 35 per cent by the end of the decade.
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