Canada Clean Technologies in the Oil and Gas Sector

Shell’s President, Gretchen Watkins recently announced a proposal to build a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Scotford Complex near Edmonton, Alberta. This complex will provide customers with lower-carbon fuels and renewable products such as blue and green hydrogen.  

The proposed Polaris CCS project is the largest in a series of low-carbon opportunities. It follows the success of Shell’s Quest CCS project, which has captured about one million tons of CO2 each year from oil sands operations since 2015. Shell chooses Alberta as the location for Polaris because of the province’s deep saline aquifers and depleted oil fields, which provide extensive options for safe underground CO2 storage. 

The initial phase of the Polaris CCS project will capture and store approximately 750,000 tons of CO2 a year as part of the company’s Scope 1 and 2 itineraries. This complex will reduce Shell’s direct and indirect emissions by up to 40% from the refinery and by up to 30% from the chemicals plant. More importantly, it will create up to 2,000 jobs. The second phase of the Polaris CCS project involves creating a CO2 storage hub in Alberta, further decarbonizing Shell’s facilities, and storing emissions on behalf of third-party industry sources. In addition, Polaris will also contribute to the Edmonton region becoming Canada’s first hydrogen hub. 

The initial phase will begin operations in 2025, with a permanent underground storage capacity of over 10 million tons of CO2 annually and approximately 300 million tons over the project’s life. Shell expects to reach its final investment decision on the proposal in 2023. 

The Polaris CCS project has the potential of helping both local and international customers to achieve their decarbonization objective. It allows companies to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the production of fuels and enable lower-carbon fuels.  

For more information about carbon sequestration in Canada and how the U.S. Commercial Service assists U.S. exporters, visit https://www.trade.gov/canada or contact: Commercial Specialist Connie Haider