There is no such thing as "decarbonized oil"

National Observer

09-06-2025

It takes a lot to make Simon Donner lose his cool. The co-chair of the feds' advisory group on climate policy has a daily practice of swimming in the Pacific and braves the frigid water all winter long. But he couldn't bear the blather about 'decarbonized oil' spilling from the first ministers' meeting this week.
The prime minister and premiers emerged from their meeting in Saskatoon last Monday and jointly declared they would 'work urgently to get Canadian natural resources and commodities to domestic and international markets, such as critical minerals and decarbonized Canadian oil and gas by pipelines, supported by the private sector….'
Donner took to social media to denounce the whole notion of 'decarbonized oil' as 'Orwellian.' It was strong language from the co-chair of the federal Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB). Donner is a climate scientist at UBC studying oceans and the intersection of climate science and policy. In that role, he gets to call the fouls as he sees them. But when people accept official government advisory roles, their criticisms usually devolve into gracious gibberish.
So, it was refreshing to hear Donner push back on the statement by Carney et al. The whole idea is just plain 'silly,' he said. There is no such thing as 'decarbonized oil' — 'Oil contains carbon and emits CO2 when combusted.'
Oil is, after all, a hydrocarbon. Along with methane gas and coal, the combustion of these fossil fuels is the primary driver of climate change. You already knew that, I'm sure. But the reason it's important to spell it out is that you're in the minority. Everyone knows there's a conflict between Big Oil and the greenies. But after decades of climate denial, online disinformation and general gaslighting, there is still widespread confusion about the most basic facts — just under half of Canadians pick out 'burning fossil fuels' even when given a list of possible sources most responsible for climate change.
The marketing spin about 'decarbonized oil,' isn't new. The oil and gas industry and various agencies were talking about carbon capture on oil production last century. More recently, Natural Resources Canada published a Roadmap for the Decarbonization of Canada's Oil and Gas Sector in the Trudeau years.
The nonsensical term is a close cousin to the attempts at marketing deep offshore drilling in the Atlantic as 'net-zero.' And adjacent to the most brazen branding effort to date — so-called 'ethical oil.'
Decarbonized oil doublespeak may not be new but it was jarring coming from the mouth of Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has an undeniable grasp of the impacts of hydrocarbons. @chrishatch.bsky.social writes for @nationalobserver.com
The decarbonized doublespeak may not be new but it was jarring coming from the mouth of our new PM, who has an undeniable grasp of the impacts of hydrocarbons but nevertheless talked about 'decarbonized barrels' at the press conference following the first ministers' meeting. And it was particularly painful considering the venue — a province under a state of emergency where more than 15,000 people have fled wildfires.
Extended families are crammed into single hotel rooms and sleeping in parking lots. While the first ministers discussed their nation-building plans in Saskatoon, a group of evacuees held a protest in the city demanding more resources for firefighting and evacuation support.
It is still only Spring, but over 33,000 Canadians have already been forced to evacuate. John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather relayed a startling conversation this week: the CEO of Red Cross Canada told him that when he started with the organization 17 years ago, 'eighty per cent of our work was outside Canada. Now, eighty per cent of our work is inside the country.'
The early-season heatwave and fire conditions on the Prairies are 'at least five times more likely than they would be in a world without climate change,' according to attribution scientists. 'These conditions, which set the stage for dangerous wildfires, will only become more frequent and more severe if we continue burning fossil fuels,' said Dr. Kristina Dahl, VP of Science at Climate Central.
The contrast was too much for another member of NZAB. ''Decarbonized oil and gas' does not exist,' wrote Catherine Abreu. '[It is] a complete contradiction in terms, and a dangerous lie that Canadian government after Canadian government has tried to spin under the spell of industry lobbying.'
It may be too early to tell who's doing the spinning and what kind of spell they're casting. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sounded positively enthusiastic about an emerging 'grand bargain' to satisfy the demands of the oil and gas industry. But some political watchers suspect Mark Carney is spinning a political web of his own.
CNO's Max Fawcett argues that Carney is effectively calling Smith's bluff — a kind of judo move that avoids direct confrontation and puts the pressure back on her: 'He will, as Smith demanded, create the conditions for a more rapid assessment of infrastructure projects. But it's clear that one of those conditions will be the net-zero targets that Smith and Alberta's oil and gas industry have repeatedly committed themselves to.'
Politics is the art of the possible, as they say. And perhaps there's a method behind the oxymorons and doublespeak. But it's hard to shake the sense that we're kidding ourselves and avoiding the basic reckoning. Still muttering about decarbonizing hydrocarbons even as the flames close in.