Progress on storage hub a major milestone for Pathways Alliance foundational carbon capture and storage project

Tuesday, October 4, 2022, Calgary – Kendall Dilling, President of Pathways Alliance, issued the following statement in response to the Government of Alberta’s decision to select the Pathways Alliance proposed carbon capture and storage hub near Cold Lake to advance to the next stage of evaluation.

“Pathways Alliance is pleased to have secured the right to continue exploratory work on our ambitious carbon capture and storage project. Today’s announcement marks a major milestone in our efforts to progress our achievable plan to help Canada meet its climate goals and ensure our country becomes a preferred global supplier of responsibly produced oil.

“We commend the Government of Alberta’s global leadership in advancing the growth of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the province – an essential part of the Pathways Alliance plan to reduce emissions by 22 million tonnes per year by 2030, the first phase of our efforts to achieve our 2050 net zero goal.

“Engineering work is already underway on the project, including specific capture facilities in the oil sands region. The announcement today will now allow Pathways Alliance to work with government on a more detailed evaluation of the proposed hub near Cold Lake.

“With continued collaboration with both the provincial and federal governments on a fiscal and regulatory framework that supports a practical and realistic approach to emissions reduction, Pathways Alliance companies could begin safely injecting and storing captured CO₂ from several oil sands facilities by late 2026.

“The proposed Pathways Alliance carbon storage hub would be connected to a transportation line that would initially gather and store captured CO₂ from an anticipated 14 oil sands facilities in the Fort McMurray, Christina Lake and Cold Lake regions.

“The plan is to grow the transportation and storage network to include over 20 oil sands facilities.

“Organizations such as International Energy Agency and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have said CCS is a necessary part of the solutions needed to mitigate climate change, and the Pathways Alliance proposed project would be one of the world’s largest.

“The Pathways Alliance project could eventually see more than 1,100 megatonnes (MT) of CO₂ safely stored deep underground in a saline aquifer – a critical lever in enabling our goal of net zero by 2050.

“The transportation line and storage hub will also be available to accommodate other industries in the region interested in capturing and storing CO₂. “Early engagement is underway with stakeholders and more than 20 First Nation and Métis communities along the proposed CO₂ transportation and storage network.”