Vancouver-Hard economic times are giving a positive flip side to the Canadian oil sands by dragging down original capital and operating estimates for projects planned by Petro-Canada and Husky Energy as they recalculate budgets based on lower costs for materials and labor. Heading into what is expected to be the last quarter of its existence, Petro-Canada put some shine on its stalled Fort Hills project April 28, with CEO Ron Brenneman disclosing that mine would now cost under C$10 billion ($8.2 billion), down C$4 billion from when progress was halted five months ago, when both the mine and a C$10 billion upgrader were put on hold (ON 11/18/08).
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