ConocoPhillips seeks oil sands cost-cutting
By Bloomberg AP and Staff Reports
2/15/2008
A ConocoPhillips executive says the company would be a "fast follower" if other producers were to successfully use nuclear energy to power Canadian oil-sands operations.
"If they should be successful, we would be fast on their heels," Kevin Meyers, president of the Canadian unit of ConocoPhillips, said this week during an energy conference in Houston hosted by Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
Meyers said he expects several pipeline companies to soon begin seeking customer commitments for shipping output from the oil sands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.
One of the biggest challenges for Houston-based ConocoPhillips in Canada is the U.S. dollar's weakness, Meyers said. That's because the company is paid in U.S. dollars for oil and pays contractors in the Alberta oil-sands region in Canadian dollars.
Production costs in Canada's oil sands have escalated to the point that companies now need $60 crude prices to break even, said Gregory Bean, a vice president with Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Ten years ago, he said, the break-even point was $20 a barrel.
By Bloomberg AP and Staff Reports
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?articleID=20080215_5_E1_...
