I'm pretty sure everyone and his mother has an oil sands project now.
The latest company to jump into the Athabasca deposit in Canada is California's Occidental Petroleum
While Oxy's investment marks a new entry in the oil sands, Enerplus Resources Fund's
Enerplus has actually been shopping its Joslyn stake since March. Perhaps the company foresaw the ensuing regulatory delays that have pushed back the project startup by at least a year. Today's environmental hurdles are tough to clear, as fellow oil sands miners Suncor
This has to be a welcome development for Total as well. Occidental offers both great financial muscle and technological savvy. With these two energy giants putting their noggins together, even a tough regulatory regime shouldn't prove insurmountable.
Related Foolishness:
- Suncor continues to be ahead of the curve.
- It's nice to see big players in the oil sands joining hands.
- Here's a particularly poetic oil sands partnership.