You might remember when Canada greenlighted the Frontier Mine oil sands project in Alberta in 2019. Or might remember the protests that have overtaken the project. But did you hear that it is dead? And by that we apparently mean dead dead. Not zombie dead. You may thank the Extinction Rebellion protesters who have been blockading railroad lines across Canada to protest a pipeline.
TeckResources: Frontier Mine—Wikipedia
In 2009, for the first time since the 1980s, what is now known as the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) changed the oil sands mining boundaries inthe Athabasca oil sands in northeastern Alberta, Canada, partly in response to successful exploratory work that Teck and others had launched "north of the known limits"—on the west and east sides of the Athabasca River. When they "discovered a sizable resource", the AER extended the "boundaries" of the "surface mineable oilsands area" to include 14.5 townships.[26] Teck and UTS, who had done the exploratory work together, initiated the regulatory process for Frontier in March 2008.[26]
The Frontier Mine was projected to produce four million tonnes ofCO2 emissions per year.
Demonstrators rally in support of — and against — Teck’s Frontier mine project
January 22, 2020—Extinction Rebellion, an environmental group, called on supporters to show up in full voice to protest the project from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Teck Resources Ltd. located at 205 9 Avenue S.E.
Canada Action, a non-partisan pro-energy group, ran a counter-demonstration in favour of the project at the same time and location.
A timeline of the Frontier mine that Teck Resources shelved amid national anti-pipeline protests
The project began more than a decade ago, in March 2008, and had just received clearance from two First Nations bands
Some Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs are reported to be vehemently opposed to the mine.
Continuing from Wikipedia:
Frontier Mine is considered to be one of the largest oilsands mines ever proposed in Alberta.[8]The "292 km2 (113 sq mi) open-pit petroleum-mining operation" was to be located about 120 km (75 mi) north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The estimated cost of developing the Frontier operation was C$20 billion. According to Financial Post, this was more than "Teck's own market capitalization of C$18 billion."[4][c][d]
The Frontier mine 25 km (16 mi) south of Wood Buffalo National Park and north of Fort McMurray in northeast Alberta, was projected to produce 260,000bbl/day every year for more than 40 years.[27][5] Its first phase in 2026 would produce 85,000 bbl/day. The second phase would begin in 2036.[4] The mine would potentially result in "billions of dollars of federal and province taxes".[8]
In the summer of 2019, a federal-provincial review concluded that Frontier Mine would be "in the public interest,even though it would be likely to harm the environment and the land,resources and culture of Indigenous people."
"[A]ll 14 First Nation groups in the region of the proposed mine have economic agreements of support with Teck."
Oil company scraps plan for massive oil sands project in Canada following public backlash
Teck Resources unilaterally decided to call off the project — presumably due to huge public pressure.
The company planned to build and operate an open-pit mineof oil sands in northern Alberta, extracting an estimated 260,000barrels of bitumen oil per day.
As you might expect, the project would have come at amassive environmental cost. It would have meant clearing out 24,000acres of boreal forest and releasing 4.1 megatons of climate-warmingemissions per year for the next four decades.
That led to strong opposition from environmental groups.For several years, campaigns against the project have been opposed tothe project, culminating in Indigenous-led rail blockades and similartypes of civil disobedience.
TeckResources Limited
Teck is Canada's largest diversified mining company and is committed to responsible development.
Talk is cheap.
Producer of materials essential to the quality of life of people around the world — copper, zinc, steelmaking coal, and energy.
FrontierProject - Teck Resources Limited
Frontier is a proposed truck-and-shovel oil sands mine located between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan in northeast Alberta.
Frontier will consist of surface mining operations, aprocessing plant, tailings management facilities, water managementfacilities, and associated infrastructure and support facilities.Teck is committed to developing Frontier responsibly, incorporatingbest practices for environmental protection, tailings management,water use and managing greenhouse gases. Teck has reached agreementswith all 14 Indigenous communities in the broader Frontier projectarea.
On February 23, 2020, Teck announced that it iswithdrawing the regulatory application for the Frontier Project. Readmore.
TeckWithdraws Regulatory Application for Frontier Project
As a result of this decision Teck will write down the$1.13 billion carrying value of the Frontier Project.
Dear Minister:
I am writing to advise that after careful considerationTeck has made the difficult decision to formally withdraw ourregulatory application for the Frontier oil sands project from thefederal environmental assessment process.
Frontierand Equinox Oil Sands Mine Projects — Teck
Who We Are. 1. Maps. 2. Overview of Projects. 4. Frontier Oil Sands Mine. 4. Equinox Oil Sands Mine. 4. Geology and Resources. 5. Preliminary Project ...
Teckdrops C$20.6 billion oil sands Frontier project, to take writedown —Reuters
Feb 23, 2020 - Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd has withdrawn an application to build its C$20.6 billion ($15.7 billion) Frontier oil sands mine in Alberta, days before the federal government was to decide on whether to approve a project opposed by environmentalists and indigenous groups.
Canadian mining giant withdraws plans for C$20 bn tar sands project — TheGuardian
Feb 24, 2020 - Teck Resources' surprise decision towithdraw from open pit Frontier Mine project landed as a bombshell on Sunday night, prompting outrage from politicians in oil-rich Alberta and cheers from environmental groups.
FrontierOil Sands Mine Project - Canada.ca
The project is a truck and shovel mine which includes two open pits, an ore preparation plant, a bitumen processing plant, tailings preparation and management facilities, cogeneration facilities, support utilities, disposal and storage areas, river water intake, a fish habitat compensation lake, bridge, roads, airfield and camp. The estimated project area is over 24,000 hectares. If the project is approved, the proposed project would operate for 41 years.
WhyTeck decided to shelve its controversial oilsands project —Financial Post
Feb 25, 2020 - The Frontier mine proposal had become 'alightning rod for the political controversies of the day'
On Monday morning, hours after Teck Resources Ltd.announced it would withdraw its application to build the largestoilsands mine in Albertan history, the company’s chief executiveDon Lindsay blamed politics, not economics, for the project’sdemise.
TeckResources pulls Frontier oilsands mine project, blaming divisive debate over climate change — Financial Post
Feb 23, 2020 - Teck Resources Ltd. is pulling its application for a controversial new oilsands mine in Alberta, freeing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from a political predicament.
Teck’s decision not to proceed with the mine frees Trudeau from possibly the toughest test yet of his vow to balance developing Canada’s resources with fighting climate change. Rejecting the mine would have sparked widespread anger in Alberta, where the mine would have provided jobs and investment; approving it would have alienated the Liberal prime minister’s environmentalist base.
Teckpulling out of oilsands project 'another straw on the camel’sback’ for Alberta economy: think tank— Global News
Feb 24, 2020 — The decision by TeckResources to pull out of a multi-billion-dollar oilsands projectin northern Alberta is “not the end of the world,” according tothe Canada West Foundation, though it considers it to be “another straw on the camel’s back in terms of Alberta’s economy.”
The$20B Frontier mine shelved amid escalating rail blockades —National Post
Feb 23, 2020 - The Frontier mine isn’t the first oilsands project to go through the regulatory process in the past 10years and not come to fruition, Olszynski said; Shell’s Jackpine mine expansion and Total’s Joslyn North projects were both approved in the early 2010s and remain dormant.
TeckResources has abandoned its Frontier mine plan. Here are the factors being blamed
While nearly 90 per cent of Conservative voters indicated support, more than half of Liberals and two-thirds of NDP voters opposed it in results that suggest a divide across the political spectrum and across Canadian regions.
The poll also noted that Teck itself has said the projectwould only be profitable if oil prices rose to around $75 US perbarrel.
They’re currently around the $50 per barrel mark,though, down by half from the $100-per-barrel price when the companyfirst proposed the mine.
While Teck did not directly cite the blockades or use thephrases “political instability” or “political unrest” in itsletter, Lindsay certainly did point to uncertainty as a key hurdlethat the company just could not overcome: in particular, he raisedquestions over whether social consensus exists for similar projects.
TeckResources pulls application for Frontier oil sands mine citing needfor climate action — National Observer
Feb 23, 2020 — But even had it been finished, Frontierwould’ve faced reduced oil prices and a lack of pipeline capacity,both significant stumbling blocks. The company also posted lacklustre fourth-quarter results last week, saying it would have to take a$1.13-billion hit if the federal government didn’t give the project the greenlight.
“This was a phantom project that didn't make economic or climate sense,” said Keith Stewart, a senior energy Strategist at Greenpeace Canada.
Supporters of the pipeline pointed to the thousands of jobs it was expected to create. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has pushed for its approval, positioning it as an issue of national unity amid increasing discussion about Western alienation.
In a press release, Kenney blamed Teck’s decision to pull the application on the Liberal government’s “lack” of“courage” in defending the “interests of Canadians in the face of a militant minority” — a statement that contrasts withTeck’s public explanation.
Switzerland’s biggest bank backs away from the oilsands
Switzerland’s largest bank will no longer finance new oilsands projects, part of a public effort to chop morecarbon-intensive assets off its balance sheet, trim its owngreenhouse gas emissions and boost sustainable investments.
In a statement,the bank said it would no longer provide financing for oilsandsprojects on undeveloped land, and will only finance firms that holdover 30 per cent of reserves or production in the oilsands if thosefunds are going towards renewable energy or conventional oil and gasprojects.
UBS has held shares in several oilsands-focused companiesincluding Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), CenovusEnergy and Imperial Oil, according to its filingwith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the calendaryear or quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019.
The bank has also held shares in Vancouver-based miningcompany Teck Resources, which recently walked away from itsapplication to build an ambitious oilsands project called Frontier,citing the needfor “clarity” as to how Canada’s climate goals fit with theexploitation of Canadian oil and gas reserves.
However,
But Patrick McCully, climate and energy program director at Rainforest Action Network, said the new restrictions were designed to look good, yet have “very little if any impact on UBS’s actual activities.”
For instance, the oilsands policy does not explicitly include restricting finance for pipelines that service the oilsands, he noted.
"This is an absurdly weak policy and keeps UBS far behind its leading European competitors in terms of its restrictions for fossil fuel finance," McCully told National Observer Friday.