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Airbus plans to launch A350F in September, according to sources
Airbus 'tentatively' scheduled the first flight of its delayed A350F cargo plane for the third week in September, according to industry sources. The company is attempting to?loosen?Boeing’s grip on the airborne trade. The European planemaker has a well-balanced certification schedule as it strives to complete flight tests and deliver the first deliveries?to its customers by the end of the next year. Industry sources claim that flight trials usually take between 12 and 15 months. Airbus' spokesperson stated that it had nothing more to say about its latest?predictions, which included a maiden flight by the end of the year and a first delivery in 2027's second half. Airbus launched its dedicated freighter version of the A350 long-haul aircraft family in 2021, with a target of entering service within four years. The aim is to take a piece of the market that has been dominated for decades by Boeing. Airbus has sold 107 of the A350F lightweight composite cargo planes compared to 38 older A330F models. In May, it was reported that Airbus faced delays with cargo doors for the new freighter. These were built in Spain by 'Airbus. This month, aviation publication?Leeham News' reported that A350F delivery could be delayed until 2028. Reporting by Tim Hepher Editing Susan Fenton and David Goode
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Trump claims that no Iran talks are being held and none are scheduled
?U.S. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump?said that he had?no scheduled conversations with Iran and there were none taking place. He also said the Strait of Hormuz is open. There are no scheduled or ongoing?conversations with the Islamic?Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade is still in full force. The Hormuz Strait remains open and operational. Trump stated in a Truth Social post that all water mines have been removed or detonated. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the top Iranian negotiator, said in remarks published by state-run media on Tuesday that the Strait will remain closed until the U.S. meets the conditions of the interim 'deal' signed with Iran in June. Qalibaf said that these conditions included the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iranian?ports and lifting oil sanctions. They also include releasing Tehran’s frozen assets and ending threats and military operations across a range of fronts. Reporting by Katharine J. Jackson, Susan Heavey, and Daphne Psaledakis. Editing by David Ljunggren.
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American Airlines will restore seatback screens and add premium seats to its profit-driven push.
American Airlines announced on Tuesday that it will add more premium seats to its narrowbody aircraft and bring back seatback entertainment screens. The airline is focusing on the higher-spending traveler as it attempts to close a large profit gap between Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines. Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, has increased the number of premium upgrades in order to boost earnings. U.S. carriers are competing more aggressively with each other for premium revenue. American Airlines said that premium seating will increase to about 40% of seats in narrowbody departures from the current 25%. As aircraft reconfigure and new jets are added to the fleet, American will add more 'first class seats' and main cabin seats that have extra legroom. Premium travelers accounted for nearly half of the revenue generated by?American in the second quarter, while occupying roughly 30% of seats. Isom is under pressure to prove that the strategy will close the gap. Flight attendants called for a change in leadership earlier this year, and the pilots' union questioned whether or not the current management can bring about the improvements. Delta and United expect solid profits this year. American is expecting a break-even result. Isom, who reshuffled senior management last week, acknowledged that there was a "meaningful difference" between American's results and what it should be. SEATBACK SCREEN? RETURN Seatback screens are also a return to American's former in-flight entertainment strategy. The airline started moving away from screens almost a decade earlier, betting that passengers would watch movies and TV on their own devices. American Airlines said that customer preferences have changed, especially among younger travelers. They want larger screens to go with their devices. The airline said that advances in high-speed satellite Wi Fi have made it possible to provide a more personalized and connected onboard experience. Seatback screens will be installed on more than 800 narrowbody aircraft by the end of 2028, according to the carrier. Retrofits are scheduled to begin in 2028, and should be completed by the early 2030s. American has already ordered more than 140 Airbus A321XLR widebody aircraft and seats with screens. It refused to reveal how much money it planned to spend on this program. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Rajesh Kumar Singh)
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Bousso: The ROI-Oil Market begins pricing for a prolonged Hormuz Crisis
Oil market behavior is becoming more and more like a permanent reality. It's not just a temporary shock. Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough are fading nearly six months after the war between Iran and the U.S. erupted. The interim ceasefire that was agreed to on June 17 is now 'effectively over,' the 60-day negotiation period has ended, and neither Washington or Tehran appear willing to compromise about the future of Strait of Hormuz. Both sides have instead dug in. Iran warned that tensions would escalate if Washington did not fully implement the interim peace agreement within a few weeks. A senior Iranian official said that if diplomacy fails, Tehran will launch a?timely and precise??attack in order to break the U.S. naval blockade. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that on July 7, 2017, the agreement was "over." Since then, he has insisted that Washington is moving closer to defeating Iran. This stalemate could last for several months, forcing traders to deal with shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz - the world's largest oil chokepoint. This shift in expectations may explain why crude oil has stabilized at around $90 per barrel. The price of crude oil has lost some of its premium for panic since the beginning of the conflict. However, it is still roughly 50% higher than when the year began. Markets may not be concerned about an immediate collapse of supplies, but they do not expect a return to normality. MOUNTING PAIN The economic costs of both sides are increasing behind the political rhetoric. Iran is being put under increasing pressure by the conflict and U.S. Blockade. According to a report by ISNA, the inflation rate in July was over 80% compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, crude exports are down to 294,000 barrels / day from 1.7million bpd a month earlier. U.S. consumers are also paying the price. Trump warned Americans that they should prepare for high fuel costs. This was an uncomfortable admission from a president, who had campaigned for lower energy prices. He also faces congressional elections this November. According to the American Automobile Association, the average gasoline price was $4.06 per gallon, up 29% compared to a year earlier. While diplomats are still deadlocked, oil markets continue to adapt. SMOKE AND MIRRORS The scale of disruptions to supply is the biggest unknown. Kpler reports that the flow of crude and refined product through Hormuz has fallen from 18 million barrels per day (bpd) before the war to just 4.8 million in July. It is now hovering around 2 million in August, despite Iranian attacks and an American blockade. This loss of?volume was partially offset by increased exports to the United Arab Emirates from Fujairah and Saudi Arabia from the Red Sea coast. Even these alternative routes are now under pressure, after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis imposed a ban on Saudi exports via the?Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. According to Kpler, the Middle East exports this month averaged only 9.5 million barrels per day, which is less than half of 21 million barrels per day in 2025. These figures could be under- or overstating actual exports, as more oil from the region is moving into shadows. There is increasing evidence that Gulf producers rely more on vessels that disable their tracking systems when transiting Hormuz or Bab el-Mandeb. The UAE in particular appears to have developed a network of dark tankers that transport crude oil through Hormuz and then transfer cargoes into the Gulf of Oman. It is a rare situation where traders are aware that supplies have been interrupted but can't determine the exact amount. UAE crude exports have averaged 3,38 million bpd since August. This compares to 3.2 million in 2025. These volumes may be under pressure, however, after Iran is reported to have hit several tankers associated with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company while they were traveling through Hormuz. The biggest unknown on the market is how much oil actually reaches consumers. Energy markets will be uncertain as long as the Hormuz impasse remains unresolved. Even if crude oil exports stabilize, other indicators indicate that high oil prices may persist. The refined fuel market has become extremely tight. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global refinery output in July was almost 5 million bpd lower than the previous year, at 81,000,000 bpd. This reflects the loss of capacity for refining in the Middle East, and the damage caused to Russian facilities by Ukrainian drone attacks. The?shortfall was offset by an increase in U.S. exports of fuel, and American refineries are running at or close to record rates. This support could soon disappear. The U.S. Gulf Coast is threatened by seasonal maintenance in preparation for winter and hurricane season. Lower refining activities?will hamper attempts to rebuild depleted inventories. This will help sustain high prices for products and margins of refining, which are at record levels. Inventory levels are particularly alarming. According to the IEA, Global observed that oil stocks dropped by 2.4 millions bpd during the second quarter. This was their biggest quarterly draw for at least a decade. U.S. Diesel inventories are the lowest they have been for this time in 30 years, and gasoline stocks are their lowest seasonal level since 2012. The freight markets send a similar signal. According to LSEG, benchmark rates for large crude carriers transporting oil to China from the Middle East have risen from $300,000 to $490,000. This is equivalent to $5 a barrel and almost 10 times more than the rate at the beginning of the year. These rates reflect the shipowners' unwillingness to enter conflict zones, and the growing demand for oil tankers that can transport fuel and oil from distant suppliers such as Brazil and the U.S. The longer the Hormuz impass continues, the less it looks like a temporary shock to the supply and the more this resembles structural reshapings of the global oil trade. The markets are struggling to cope with a world of opaque flows, shrinking inventories, stretched refining capacities and no credible diplomatic pathway toward restoring the Gulf trade. This growing awareness, and not the battlefield developments, could ultimately keep oil prices high well into next. You like this column? Check out Open Interest, your new essential source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
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Australia's Alliance Aviation hires Steven Greenway, a veteran CEO
Alliance Aviation Services, Australia's charter flight operator, announced on Tuesday that Steven Greenway has been appointed as its chief executive. Stewart Tully is leaving after more than a decade. Greenway has more than 25 years' experience in international aviation leadership. He began his career with Qantas, and then held senior leadership positions at Singapore Airlines, Scoot, the budget airline, and SkyEurope Airlines. Greenway was most recently the head of flyadeal, a low-cost airline division of the Saudia Group. The Alliance?shares fell by 0.5% just before the announcement of the new CEO. The company is navigating a turbulent period. The Alliance shares have fallen by nearly 60% in the past year, and are down around 25% so far this year. This values it at A$149 ($105.79) million - well below what Qantas offered for an 80% stake. The Board?is confident Steven will lead Alliance through its next phase - as a FIFO (fly-in-fly-out) specialist - aviation provider and build on the strong operational, cultural, and commercial foundations of the company," said James 'Jackson, Chairman of Alliance Aviation. Tully was appointed chief in February 2024. He joined Alliance in 2015 as a general manager of Operations. $1 = 1.4085 Australian Dollars (Reporting and editing by Jasmeen ara Shaikh in Bengaluru, and Kumar Tanishk)
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Sources say that China's state-owned oil shippers have deployed oil tankers to avoid chokepoints in the Gulf and deploy them outside of it.
According to industry executives, ship brokers, and tanker trackers, two Chinese shipping giants are no longer sending oil tankers into Middle East chokepoints because of the ongoing conflict. Instead, they're collecting oil cargoes from outside the?Gulf. According to Vortexa, a tanker tracking service, and a shipbroker, state-controlled COSCO?Shipping Energy Transportation (CMES) and China Merchants Energy Shipping have been keeping their tankers away from the Strait of Hormuz since late July. Security concerns are preventing oil shipments for the world's biggest importer. Yemen's Houthis announced a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia on 20 July, while the Strait of Hormuz is still largely closed following a short interim peace agreement reached between Iran and the United States in June that fell apart. According to two Chinese shipping executives who have direct knowledge of this matter and a state oil trader, the decision was made by two shippers after they had communicated with the central authorities. Due to company policy, these sources and others refused to be identified. CMES informed investors late in July that for the moment, its vessels would not be entering the Strait of Hormuz. A public filing revealed that it added other shippers had avoided Bab al-Mandeb without mentioning their own policy. Shipping sources say that the two shippers handled half of China's crude oil imports before the Iran War began late February. Chinese customs data shows that China imported 4.9 million barrels of crude oil per day in average last year, including the oil shipped by VLCCs but excluding the oil from Iran sanctioned by the U.S. According to traders and analysts, the two state-owned shippers don't transport Iranian oil because of sanctions. A state-owned shipper said that supertanker usage has decreased since the Iran War began, and many vessels have been diverted on longer routes to the Atlantic or the Americas. The executive stated that "the tankers are still engaged but they are sailing longer journeys and experiencing longer waiting times amid greater uncertainty." COSCO has not responded to a comment request. CMES declined to comment immediately. Loading Outside the Gulf Ship-tracking data from Kpler revealed a spike in transfers between vessels owned by China and Hong Kong in the Gulf of Oman. Volumes exceeded 600,000 barrels a day (bpd). In April and May, there was no activity of this kind. The first two months in 2026 saw less than 30,000 barrels per day. "They're avoiding the two Straits but sending vessels outside the Gulf to the new STS points (ship-to ship) - low-risk and good profits," said another Chinese shipping executive. He was referring to the waters near the ports of Omani and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, where, over the past few months, most Gulf crude exports were shipped and transferred onto vessels bound for Asian customers. HIGH FREIGHT MARGINS The second executive said that the daily freight for the Oman to China voyage was estimated at $140,000 last Friday, translating into a margin per tanker of approximately $110,000. The executive said that before the Iran war a VLCC tanker made $30,000 to $40K per day on a similar route. Vortexa reports that four supertankers operated by COSCO and a fifth one operated by CMES transferred oil from ship to ship at Fujairah, in July. According to a shipbroker, between August and mid-September about a dozen each of COSCO and CMES supertankers are scheduled for loading outside the Gulf. These vessels will be primarily chartered by Chinese refiners and will mainly load at Fujairah or in Omani ports. Kpler tracking indicates that Coslucky Lake changed its course early in August to avoid the Houthis blockade and instead sailed through the Suez Canal without any cargo to load Saudi Arabian oil at Egypt's Mediterranean Port of Sidi Kerir. (Reporting Chen Aizhu, Siyi Liu, Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Jamie Freed; Editing by Jamie Freed).
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Bousso: The ROI-Oil Market begins pricing for a prolonged Hormuz Crisis
Oil market behavior is becoming more and more like a permanent reality. It's not just a temporary shock. The hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough are fading nearly six months after the war broke out between the U.S. The interim ceasefire that was agreed upon on June 17 is now effectively over, the 60 day negotiating period is finished, and neither Washington or Tehran appear willing to compromise about the future of Strait of Hormuz. Both sides have instead dug in. Iran warned that tensions would escalate if Washington did not fully implement the interim peace agreement within weeks. An Iranian senior official said to? A senior Iranian official told?that, if diplomatic efforts failed, Tehran would launch an "timely and exact" attack in order to break the U.S. navy blockade. ?U.S. On July 7, President Donald Trump declared that the agreement was "over." Since then, he has insisted that Washington is moving closer to defeating Iran. This stalemate could last for several months, forcing traders to deal with shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz - the world's largest oil chokepoint. This shift in expectations may explain why crude oil has stabilized at around $90 per barrel. The price of crude oil has lost some of its premium for panic since the beginning of the conflict. However, it is still roughly 50% higher compared to the beginning of the year. Markets may not be concerned about an immediate collapse of supplies, but they do not expect a return to normality. MOUNTING PAIN The economic costs of both sides are increasing behind the political rhetoric. Iran is being put under increasing pressure by the conflict and U.S. Blockade. According to an ISNA report the inflation rate in July was over 80% higher than a year ago. Crude exports are down to 294,000 barrels a day from 1.7million bpd ten years ago, according to Kpler, whose analytics firm is based. U.S. citizens are also paying the price. Trump warned Americans that they should prepare for high fuel prices, a difficult admission for a President who ran on lower energy costs and faces congressional elections in the fall. According to the American Automobile Association, the average gasoline price was $4.06 a gallon on monday, a 29% increase from a year earlier. While diplomats are still deadlocked, oil markets continue to adapt. SMOKE AND MIRRORS The scale of disruptions to supply is the biggest uncertainty. Kpler reports that the flow of crude and refined product through Hormuz has fallen from 18 million barrels per day (bpd) before the war to just 4.8 million in July. It is now hovering around 2 million in August, despite Iranian attacks and an American blockade. This volume loss has been partially offset by increased exports to the United Arab Emirates from Fujairah and Saudi Arabia from the Red Sea coast. Even these alternative routes are now under pressure, after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis imposed a ban on Saudi exports via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. According to Kpler, the Middle East's exports this month averaged 9.6?million barrels per day, which is less than half of 21 million barrels in 2025. These figures could be under- or overstating actual exports, as more oil from the region is moving into shadows. There is increasing evidence that Gulf producers are relying on vessels that disable their tracking systems when transiting Hormuz or Bab el-Mandeb. The UAE in particular appears to have developed a network of dark tankers that transport crude oil through Hormuz and then transfer cargoes into the Gulf of Oman. It is a rare situation where traders are aware that supplies have been interrupted but can't determine the exact amount. UAE crude exports have averaged 3,38 million bpd since the beginning of August, compared to 3.2 million in 2025. These volumes may be under pressure, however, after Iran is reported to have hit several tankers associated with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company while they were traveling through Hormuz. The biggest unknown on the market is how much oil actually reaches consumers. Energy markets will be uncertain as long as the Hormuz impasse is not resolved. Even if crude oil exports stabilize, other indicators indicate that high oil prices may persist. The refined fuel market has become extremely tight. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global refinery output in July was almost 5 million bpd lower than the previous year, at 81,000,000 bpd. This reflects the loss of capacity for refining in the Middle East, and the damage caused to Russian facilities by Ukrainian drone attacks. The shortfall in fuel production has been?compensated by an increase in U.S. exports. American refineries are operating at or close to record levels of utilization. This support could soon disappear. The U.S. Gulf Coast is facing a threat from seasonal maintenance in preparation for winter and hurricane season. Low refining will hinder?efforts for rebuilding depleted fuel stocks, helping to sustain high prices and margins in the refining industry, which are at record levels. Inventory levels are particularly alarming. According to the IEA, Global observed that oil stocks dropped by 2.4m bpd during the second quarter. This is their biggest quarterly draw since at least a decade. U.S. Diesel inventories are the lowest they have been for this time of year since three decades. Meanwhile, gasoline stocks are their lowest seasonal level since 2012. The freight markets send a similar signal. According to LSEG, benchmark rates for large crude carriers that transport oil from the Middle East to China have risen from $300,000 a day at the beginning of July to $490,000. This is equivalent to $5 a barrel and almost 10 times more than the rate set up at the beginning of the year. These rates reflect the shipowners' unwillingness to enter conflict zones, and the growing demand for oil tankers that can transport fuel and oil from distant suppliers such as Brazil and the U.S. The longer the Hormuz impass continues, the less it looks like a temporary shock to the oil supply and the more this resembles an overall reshaping in the global oil trade. The markets are struggling to cope with a world of opaque flows, shrinking inventories, stretched refining capacities and no credible diplomatic pathway toward restoring the Gulf trade. This growing awareness, and not the battlefield developments, could ultimately keep oil prices high well into next. You like this column? Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
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Russia shoots down 180 drones overnight in the Moscow region, says mayor
Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of the Russian capital, announced on Telegram that Russia had shot down?180 drones overnight in the Moscow area. This was one of the largest Ukrainian air attacks against?the Russian Capital. Regional governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed that drones had hit the warehouse of Russian ecommerce company Wildberries, as well as other facilities near Moscow. Wildberries, which is a frequent target for Kyiv attacks after Russia's full invasion of Ukraine 2022, said in a press release that drone debris had caused minor damage to one of its walls. Sobyanin said that '620 drones' were heading towards the area surrounding the Russian capital from?Monday night to 5 am (0200 GMT) and Moscow temporarily restricted flights at its airports. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger, Stephen Coates, and Jekaterina Glubkova from Tokyo)
Canada's pipeline ambitions are dependent on an uncertain expansion of output
Canadian pipeline companies are proposing billions in new projects, despite the fact that?oil-sands firms are reluctant to commit to significant expansions due to uncertainty over climate policies and global demand. Six pipeline projects in Canada are currently underway or have been proposed to transport oil from the United States to markets on the Pacific Coast or the United States. According to calculations, if all were built, Canada's export capacity would increase by 45% or 2,25 million barrels a day in 2035. To fill all these pipes, the Canadian oil supply would have to grow by over a third in 2034. This is a near-doubling from its current average annual growth rate. This would require Canadian producers move forward with major new oil-sands projects, the likes of which no company had undertaken in over a decade. The mismatch between the proposed expansions of export pipelines and the rate of growth in output highlights Canada's struggle to reach Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “energy superpower” ambitions despite a more supportive regulating environment and a growing interest from international buyers for Canadian oil. Suncor Energy as well as Canadian Natural Resources both said in this month that they were not ready to speed up plans for increased production. Enbridge, a pipeline operator, announced in July that it was postponing the second phase of Mainline expansion, which is one of six new projects. This was because customers had not committed to increased capacity.
Colin Gruending, Enbridge's Executive Vice-President for Liquids Pipelines, said on a conference call that "Producers have shown discipline." "I believe they'll make it." "We were a bit too quick to jump the gun here."
Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and exports 90% of its production to the United States. The oil sands of northern Alberta are a vast reservoir, but the crude export pipelines are almost full. Carney said that in the short term, the Iran War disrupts oil trade and global buyers are more interested in Canada. He also wants to increase Canadian oil exports so as to support the economy against tariff threats by U.S. president Donald Trump. The production growth is being clouded by uncertainty over the 'longer-term impacts on demand due to domestic and global geopolitics and climate policies. The incremental capacity expansions for the Enbridge Mainline or Trans Mountain pipeline systems, which are currently underway or planned, could be completed quickly and relatively cheaply. A project like Alberta's proposed 1 million-bpd oil pipeline from the east to west to the Pacific would be much more risky due to its sheer scale. Around half of the capacity expansions or 950,000 bpd would ship oil to U.S. This includes a proposal for a crude pipeline that would revive some of the former Keystone XL Project.
SLOWER OIL SANDS CAPITAL INVESTMENT
In the past, building new pipelines was fraught with political risks and environmental opposition. Low prices, regulatory uncertainties, and investor focussed on shareholder returns stifled necessary investment to boost oil production.
Analysts predict that Canadian oil production will grow by 4% to reach a record-breaking 5.35 million barrels per day in 2025. Most analysts also expect a 3% to 4-percent increase in 2026. This compares with growth rates of up to 8% in the 2000s or 2010s when oil sands mining was rampant. According to Statistics Canada, the annual?capital investments in Canada's Oil Sands peaked at C$35billion in 2014 and will drop to C$14.2billion in 2024. Suncor's Fort Hills was the last major oil sands development to begin operating in 2018. Since then, the companies have focused on expanding existing projects.
Imperial Oil CEO John Whelan said at a June conference that the oil sands sector spent $10 billion less per year in the past decade than it did in the decade before.
Whelan stated that it would take more than C$100 Billion in capital investment to build the pipeline and the carbon capture project, which the Canadian government says must be built next to it. It's all possible. Mark Oberstoetter, Wood Mackenzie's analyst, said that the oil sands industry has done similar things in the past. "At the time, you may have had a different outlook on oil prices in the long term, and a kind of growth-at all-costs mantra among some of these firms, which seems quite different now." Energy consultancy Novi Labs identified a total of 19 oil sands expansion projects which could increase production by 652,000 bpd by 2037. Some of the projects proposed by companies like Cenovus Energy Imperial Oil Strathcona Resources Suncor have not received final investment decisions. Novi Labs added other proposed oil-sands expansion projects - ones that companies have indicated they are in their long-term or medium-term plans but for which there is no timetable available - and this added an additional 730,000 bpd. However, it still fell short of the growth required to fill the proposed pipelines by more than 850,000bpd.
Carney's promises to accelerate energy project approvals and reduce or rollback a number of environmental and climate regulations have made Canadian oil executives more optimistic than they had been in years.
Many of the policy changes that have been proposed by the industry, the Alberta and federal governments, including those relating to carbon pricing, financial support, and permit timelines, are not yet finalized. Will we see big projects move forward if we meet these investment conditions? In an interview, Kendall Dilling said that this was the goal.
(source: Reuters)