A European Union technical committee handed Alberta producers a “small victory” by declining to declare fuels made from bitumen to be greater emitters of greenhouse gases than those from other types of crude oil.
The committee didn’t muster a majority in support of changes to the EU’s fuel quality directive that would raise costs of fuels originating in Alberta’s oil sands. But there was no majority in favor of killing the proposal, either.
“Today’s vote is a small victory for Alberta,” said Alberta Premier Alison Redford in a statement. “But the process in Europe means that a discriminatory fuel quality directive could resurface.”
Bob Tippee has been chief editor of Oil & Gas Journal since January 1999 and a member of the Journal staff since October 1977. Before joining the magazine, he worked as a reporter at the Tulsa World and served for four years as an officer in the US Air Force. A native of St. Louis, he holds a degree in journalism from the University of Tulsa.
