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Calgary Herald
18 hours ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel's $23.7M payout makes him Alberta's highest-paid executive in 2024
Article content Enbridge president and CEO Greg Ebel, whose compensation included almost $13 million in share-based awards, climbed to No. 1 on the list of Alberta's highest-earning executives in 2024. Article content At $23.78 million, Ebel was closely trailed by Canadian Pacific Kansas City president and CEO Keith Creel, a perennial top earner who received $23.57 million in total pay last year. Article content Article content In 2023, Ebel ranked third among all top executives in Alberta, earning $18.7 million, while Creel was second behind Suncor's Rich Kruger at just over $20 million. Article content Ebel, who was named president and CEO of the Calgary-based pipeline giant in January 2023, had a base salary of about $2 million last year. He received $12.74 million in share-based awards — often meant to incentivize executives to align their interests with shareholders — and almost $8 million more in stock options and other bonuses. Article content As CEO, Ebel is paid 'for the results he delivers for the company and shareholders,' said Enbridge in an emailed statement. Article content 'Our compensation philosophy is rooted in pay-for-performance. As such, 89 per cent of our (CEO's) pay is 'at-risk.' That is, payouts are not guaranteed, and the value of at-risk components depends on how well the company performs.' Article content Article content Supporting Ebel's compensation package for 2024 was the delivery of record financial results, achievement of distributable cash flow within the company's financial guidance range and the garnering of over 37 per cent total shareholder return, according to Enbridge. Article content Total shareholder return is a way of measuring financial performance, an indicator of the total amount shareholders reap from an investment. Article content Enbridge added that its executive compensation is benchmarked against industry peers across North America, such as Chevron, Suncor and others. Article content 'Several of our senior executives, including our CEO, are compensated near the 50th percentile in this industry peer group,' its statement read.
7 days ago
- Business
Oil industry continues focus on returning cash to investors over new big projects
While Alberta's oilpatch continues to make billions of dollars in profits, much of that money is finding its way into shareholder's pockets rather than toward major expansions of their operations. At the time of the last boom, oil producers poured a large portion of their earnings back into capital spending. In 2014, for example, oil and gas investment in Canada ranged around $80 billion. Today, it's closer to $30 billion, according to the latest numbers (new window) from the ARC Energy Research Institute, which models the entire Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It means that in recent years, a flood of cash hasn't sparked a surge of new projects in the province. Suncor's Fort Hills mine, the last major oilsands facility, opened in 2018. The real change in behaviour was really more around before 2020, where companies were putting a lot more of their cash flow into [capital expenditures] and growth, said Jackie Forrest, executive director of ARC. "After the 2020 period, it really shifted to today. Only about half of the cash flow is going toward [capital expenditures] and growth. The other half is going to shareholders. The governments are also a very significant stakeholder that is receiving almost as much as the shareholders. Of course, that benefits all Canadians through royalties and taxes. Canadian oil industry statistics: historical data and forecast | See interactive chart here (new window) The graph above shows after-tax cash flow, which is the money oil companies have left after covering their costs, including to governments. They use it to pay down debt, invest in projects, buy other assets, or give money back to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, said Richard Masson, an executive fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and the former CEO of the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission. Masson noted companies are reinvesting about half of their after-tax cash flow, which is a higher ratio than during the early pandemic years. But most of that money goes toward maintaining current production, not expanding it, he said. There's only small amounts of that that are actually growth capital, he said. It's not bad, he added, but we haven't been able to really grow the industry because we haven't been assured of market access and good prices. What's at play? Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Alberta Central, the central banking facility for the province's credit unions, said available data for non-Canadian oil producers show similar patterns. They're also reinvesting less of their revenues into their operation, he said. St-Arnaud said there are many international factors at play here, one of them being forecasts such as from the International Energy Agency, which show oil demand plateauing somewhere in the 2030s and then gradually coming down. Does it make sense globally to invest massively in expanding oil production in this context? he said. Charles St-Arnaud is the chief economist at Alberta Central, a group representing credit unions in the province. Arnaud said the oil and gas industry may have reached a "mature phase" where companies are focused on optimizing existing operations rather than expanding production. Photo: Submitted by Charles St-Arnaud Masson, meanwhile, said future investment depends on a number of factors. It depends entirely on the resource, and on market access, and on access to capital, and on skill of the workforce, he said. "Canada is one of the more competitive places in the world for investment, and we have a lot of running room left. Even in a world that sees peak oil in the mid-2030s, because even then, almost all the actual forecasts, which are different than scenarios, most forecasts see a very shallow decline out past 2050. Enlarge image (new window) Pumpjacks operate in the Permian Basin east of Carlsbad, N.M., on May 20, 2025. Photo: AP Photo / Susan Montoya Bryan At the same time, global investor expectations have shifted, Masson said. "That grew out of the Permian [Basin] in Texas (new window) , where it was growing so rapidly, so much investment was happening, that shareholders kept adding more funds to the industry, but they weren't getting any returns," he said. Eventually, they got fed up with that and said, we need to see more cash coming back. And that trend spread from New York across Canada as well, where Canadian companies had to compete by returning cash to shareholders. Masson said industry leaders also continue to cite regulatory uncertainty, including when it comes to legislation like Bill C-69, also known as the Impact Assessment Act, and the proposed emissions cap, as barriers that are holding back new investment. Steady, but not busy In Fort McMurray, Alta., the heart of Alberta's oilsands, the volatile nature of the province's boom-and-bust oil industry has been witnessed first-hand over decades. These days, it seems things are neither boom nor bust. For Owen Erskine, owner of Mitchell's Cafe in downtown Fort McMurray, the past few years have been steady, but not busy. I don't think we've seen as much of a personnel boom as in years past … we're seeing more oil at some points, but I think they're kind of at a bit of a bottleneck where it comes to investment and that sort of thing, Erskine said. We're not seeing a crazy huge [rush of] out-of-town people coming into the city right now. Owen Erskine, who owns Mitchell's Cafe in downtown Fort McMurray, Alta., said things are steady in the oil sector with some big projects underway, but it's not the kind of boom that brings in waves of out-of-town workers. Photo: CBC / Kyle Bakx Erskine, who has lived in Fort McMurray going on 36 years, said the community is well-acquainted with the nature of the industry. What we're seeing now is, like, since the last couple of busts, we don't have such an intense boom, he said. The busts have become a little bit less jaw-dropping, especially as a small business like we are. The 'mature' phase Oil has been a boon for the province, but it also means that Alberta is heavily dependent on an income stream that will face challenges as the energy transition continues, according to St-Arnaud. [The government has] been very proactive at ensuring that those revenues are still there and protecting those revenues, because it's a big source of funding for the government, he said. If it's not there, there will be a very tough choice. And a very hard conversation is, do we keep the level of services or increase tax? In St-Arnaud's view, the industry may have reached a mature phase where companies are focused on optimizing existing operations rather than expanding production. As much as I was saying that the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s was the startup phase, well, we're in a mature phase where we're producing, he said. Those companies are making a very good return on those investments, and they don't see the need to expand dramatically. Jackie Forrest, the Executive Director of the ARC Energy Research Institute in Calgary, said investors have started to question whether they were likely to get their money back with companies always reinvesting capital. Photo: CBC / Colin Hall Masson, meanwhile, said the recent Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has helped, but is already nearing full capacity (new window) . Building new infrastructure, especially pipelines to the West Coast, could take up to a decade, making long-term planning difficult. It'll probably carry on in that range, $30 to $40 billion, for the future, until we know what we have for market access and we see some of the federal policies that the CEOs are talking about get changed, he said. The year ahead could also test how oil companies prioritize their money if prices drop, Forrest said. If we do get prices in the below $60 [US] or in the $60 [US] range, I think you're going to start to understand what the priority is, she said. And I think the shareholders are going to be a pretty big priority in terms of, if cash flow is more scarce, what they do with it. With files from Kyle Bakx
CBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CBC
How Canada's oilsands transformed into one of North America's lowest-cost plays
Social Sharing Giant shovels, driverless trucks and a dog-like robot have all helped Canada's oilsands companies including Imperial Oil and Suncor become some of North America's lowest-cost oil producers, driving down overheads even as the worst inflation in a generation pushed U.S. shale costs up. As the global oil industry enters a downturn due to economic uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs policy and OPEC+ pumping more barrels, Canada's oilsands industry finds itself in a position of strength. In the years following the oil price crash of 2014-15, international oil majors including BP, Chevron and Total sold their interests in Canadian oilsands. At the time, they classified the Canadian operations as among their more expensive, and therefore less profitable, projects worldwide. They directed their capital to cheaper oil production, and favoured U.S. shale for its quicker drilling time and returns. Since then, new technology and cost-cutting efforts have driven meaningful improvement in the industry's competitiveness, which make the oilsands among the cheapest producers, according to a dozen industry insiders and a Reuters analysis of the latest U.S. and Canadian company earnings. While U.S. shale companies are responding to this year's oil price downturn by dropping rigs, slashing capital spending and laying off workers, the oilsands' position of strength means Canadian companies have made virtually no changes to their previously announced production or spending plans. WATCH | Alberta braces for tariffs' impact on oil and gas industry: Alberta braces for tariffs' impact on oil and gas industry 4 months ago Some Canadian politicians are now calling for a new crude pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast, as part of a broader effort to strengthen the country's economy in the face of U.S. tariff threats. The lower crude prices this year have little impact on the Canadian oil sector, Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie said in an interview earlier this year. "This is an industry that has become much more resilient through time," he said. In one example, two four-legged robots — each nicknamed Spot because of their dog-like appearance — prowl Imperial's vast 45-year-old Cold Lake operation in Alberta, conducting routine equipment inspections and maintenance such as heat exchanger optimizations, and oil/water tank interface monitoring. The Spots free up human workers for other work and save Imperial $30 million a year, the company said. Exxon-owned Imperial and its competitor Suncor have also switched to autonomous mining vehicles, eliminating the need to hire drivers to transport oilsands ore. The switch has improved oil output productivity at Imperial's Kearl oilsands mine by 20 per cent since 2023, the company said. Suncor operates a 900-tonne truck at its Fort Hills operation north of Fort McMurray, Alta., which the company said is the world's largest hydraulic mining shovel. Suncor CEO Rich Kruger said the shovel's larger bucket and more powerful digging force deliver faster ore loading and less spillage. Oilsands producers have also made improvements in equipment reliability and performance. At Kearl, for example, Imperial has reduced expenses related to turnarounds — an industry term for the costly periods of required maintenance that often involve temporarily shutting down production — by $100 million annually since 2021. The company cut the time between turnarounds from 12 to 24 months in 2024, and aims to extend that interval to 48 months in future. WATCH | Oilsands emissions vastly higher than industry reports, scientists say: Oilsands emissions vastly higher than industry reports, scientists say 1 year ago More than a dozen Alberta oilsands facilities are emitting potentially harmful air pollutants at 20 to 64 times the rate reported to the government, according to new research published in the journal Science. Suncor credits efforts including standardizing maintenance practices across mines and improving management of site water to get more production out of existing assets for contributing to the company's $7 US per barrel reduction in its West Texas Intermediate (WTI) break-even price in 2024 to $42.90. This long-term focus on cost-cutting means Canada's five biggest oilsands companies can break even — and still maintain their dividends — at WTI prices between $43.10 and $40.85, according to a Bank of Montreal analysis for Reuters. That means oilsands producers have lowered their overall costs by approximately $10 a barrel in about seven years. Oilsands had an average break-even price of $51.80/bbl between 2017 and 2019, according to BMO. In contrast, a recent Dallas Federal Reserve survey of over 100 oil and gas companies in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana found that shale oil producers need a WTI oil price of $65 per barrel on average to profitably drill. Back in 2017-2019, U.S. shale producers had a break-even price of between $50 and $52 per barrel. High startup costs, but long lifespans Part of the reason that the oilsands industry has become so cost-competitive is the nature of the extraction process. Producing the thick, sticky oil that is found in the sands of Alberta is in some locations more akin to mining than oil drilling. Where the oil is very close to the surface, companies operate massive mines, scraping up huge volumes of sand and clay and then filtering out the oil. When the oil is deeper, companies inject steam underground to loosen the deposits and then use a drilling process. An oilsands mine has big initial startup costs but once it is operational, it can run for decades with very low production decline rates. Canadian Natural Resources, for example, at the end of 2024 had proved and probable reserves amounting to 20.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in its portfolio, giving its oilsands mining and upgrading assets a remaining reserve lifespan of 43 years. The company's Horizon oilsands mine has been producing since 2009. Shale oil wells, by contrast, have low startup costs. Oil output from the wells, however, begins to decline within months. Prices have begun to climb because after years of heavy drilling in the top shale fields, the most productive areas have been exhausted. Drillers are moving onto secondary areas, so they have to drill more wells to achieve the same output and that has driven up costs. Canadian oilsands companies have also paid down debt in the past five years, allowing them to reallocate profits away from shoring up their balance sheets and toward rewarding shareholders with dividends and buybacks. According to the Bank of Montreal, oilsands producers Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor, Cenovus, Imperial Oil and MEG Energy currently have combined net debt, excluding lease liabilities, of $33.9 billion after paying down a combined total of almost $22 billion in debt between 2021 and 2024. As returns grow, Canadian oilsands producers are an increasingly attractive investment for those looking to make money from the energy industry, said Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager with Vancouver-based Burkett Asset Management. "[Canada's oilsands] are not geopolitically risky, and they have some very appealing characteristics around productivity and costs," said Burkett, who has shares of Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus in his portfolio.
CBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Oil industry continues focus on returning cash to investors over new big projects
While Alberta's oilpatch continues to make billions of dollars in profits, much of that money is finding its way into shareholder's pockets rather than toward major expansions of their operations. At the time of the last boom, oil producers poured a large portion of their earnings back into capital spending. In 2014, for example, oil and gas investment in Canada ranged around $80 billion. Today, it's closer to $30 billion, according to the latest numbers from the ARC Energy Research Institute, which models the entire Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It means that in recent years, a flood of cash hasn't sparked a surge of new projects in the province. Suncor's Fort Hills mine, the last major oilsands facility, opened in 2018. "The real change in behaviour was really more around before 2020, where companies were putting a lot more of their cash flow into [capital expenditures] and growth," said Jackie Forrest, executive director of ARC. "After the 2020 period, it really shifted to today. Only about half of the cash flow is going toward [capital expenditures] and growth. The other half is going to shareholders. "The governments are also a very significant stakeholder that is receiving almost as much as the shareholders. Of course, that benefits all Canadians through royalties and taxes." The graph above shows after-tax cash flow, which is the money oil companies have left after covering their costs, including to governments. They use it to pay down debt, invest in projects, buy other assets, or give money back to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, said Richard Masson, an executive fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and the former CEO of the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission. Masson noted companies are reinvesting about half of their after-tax cash flow, which is a higher ratio than during the early pandemic years. But most of that money goes toward maintaining current production, not expanding it, he said. "There's only small amounts of that that are actually growth capital," he said. "It's not bad," he added, "but we haven't been able to really grow the industry because we haven't been assured of market access and good prices." What's at play? Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Alberta Central, the central banking facility for the province's credit unions, said available data for non-Canadian oil producers show similar patterns. "They're also reinvesting less of their revenues into their operation," he said. St-Arnaud said there are many international factors at play here, one of them being forecasts such as from the International Energy Agency, which show oil demand plateauing somewhere in the 2030s and then gradually coming down. "Does it make sense globally to invest massively in expanding oil production in this context?" he said. Masson, meanwhile, said future investment depends on a number of factors. "It depends entirely on the resource, and on market access, and on access to capital, and on skill of the workforce," he said. "Canada is one of the more competitive places in the world for investment, and we have a lot of running room left. "Even in a world that sees peak oil in the mid-2030s, because even then, almost all the actual forecasts, which are different than scenarios, most forecasts see a very shallow decline out past 2050." At the same time, global investor expectations have shifted, Masson said. "That grew out of the Permian [Basin] in Texas, where it was growing so rapidly, so much investment was happening, that shareholders kept adding more funds to the industry, but they weren't getting any returns," he said. "Eventually, they got fed up with that and said, we need to see more cash coming back. And that trend spread from New York across Canada as well, where Canadian companies had to compete by returning cash to shareholders." Masson said industry leaders also continue to cite regulatory uncertainty, including when it comes to legislation like Bill C-69, also known as the Impact Assessment Act, and the proposed emissions cap, as barriers that are holding back new investment. Steady, but not busy In Fort McMurray, Alta., the heart of Alberta's oilsands, the volatile nature of the province's boom-and-bust oil industry has been witnessed first-hand over decades. These days, it seems things are neither boom nor bust. For Owen Erskine, owner of Mitchell's Cafe in downtown Fort McMurray, the past few years have been steady, but not busy. "I don't think we've seen as much of a personnel boom as in years past … we're seeing more oil at some points, but I think they're kind of at a bit of a bottleneck where it comes to investment and that sort of thing," Erskine said. "We're not seeing a crazy huge [rush of] out-of-town people coming into the city right now." Erskine, who has lived in Fort McMurray going on 36 years, said the community is well-acquainted with the nature of the industry. "What we're seeing now is, like, since the last couple of busts, we don't have such an intense boom," he said. "The busts have become a little bit less jaw-dropping, especially as a small business like we are." The 'mature' phase Oil has been a boon for the province, but it also means that Alberta is heavily dependent on an income stream that will face challenges as the energy transition continues, according to St-Arnaud. "[The government has] been very proactive at ensuring that those revenues are still there and protecting those revenues, because it's a big source of funding for the government," he said. "If it's not there, there will be a very tough choice. And a very hard conversation is, do we keep the level of services or increase tax?" In St-Arnaud's view, the industry may have reached a "mature phase" where companies are focused on optimizing existing operations rather than expanding production. "As much as I was saying that the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s was the startup phase, well, we're in a mature phase where we're producing," he said. "Those companies are making a very good return on those investments, and they don't see the need to expand dramatically." Masson, meanwhile, said the recent Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has helped, but is already nearing full capacity. Building new infrastructure, especially pipelines to the West Coast, could take up to a decade, making long-term planning difficult. "It'll probably carry on in that range, $30 to $40 billion, for the future, until we know what we have for market access and we see some of the federal policies that the CEOs are talking about get changed," he said. The year ahead could also test how oil companies prioritize their money if prices drop, Forrest said. "If we do get prices in the below $60 [US] or in the $60 [US] range, I think you're going to start to understand what the priority is," she said.
Global News
7 days ago
- Business
- Global News
How Canada's oil sands transformed into one of North America's lowest-cost energy producers
Giant shovels, driverless trucks and a dog-like robot have all helped Canada's oil sands companies including Imperial Oil and Suncor become some of North America's lowest-cost oil producers, driving down overheads even as the worst inflation in a generation pushed U.S. shale costs up. As the global oil industry enters a downturn due to economic uncertainty related to U.S. tariffs policy and OPEC+ pumping more barrels, Canada's oil sands industry finds itself in a position of strength. In the years following the oil price crash of 2014-15, international oil majors including BP, Chevron and Total sold their interests in Canadian oil sands. At the time, they classified the Canadian operations as among their more expensive, and therefore less profitable, projects worldwide. They directed their capital to cheaper oil production and favored U.S. shale for its quicker drilling time and returns. Since then, new technology and cost-cutting efforts have driven meaningful improvement in the industry's competitiveness that make oil sands among the cheapest producers, according to a dozen industry insiders and a Reuters analysis of the latest U.S. and Canadian company earnings. Story continues below advertisement While U.S. shale companies are responding to this year's oil price downturn by dropping rigs, slashing capital spending and laying off workers, the oil sands' position of strength means Canadian companies have made virtually no changes to their previously announced production or spending plans. Some Canadian politicians are now calling for a new crude pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast, as part of a broader effort to strengthen the country's economy in the face of U.S. tariff threats. 1:33 As global oil prices plunge, Alberta's energy sector prepares The lower crude prices this year have little impact on the Canadian oil sector, Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie said in an interview earlier this year. 'This is an industry that has become much more resilient through time,' he said. In one example, two four-legged robots— each nicknamed Spot because of their dog-like appearance — prowl Imperial's vast 45-year-old Cold Lake operation in Alberta, conducting routine equipment inspections and maintenance such as heat exchanger optimizations, and oil/water tank interface monitoring. Story continues below advertisement The Spots free up human workers for other work and save Imperial $30 million (Cdn) per year, the company said. Get weekly money news Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday. Sign up for weekly money newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Exxon-owned Imperial and its competitor Suncor have also switched to autonomous mining vehicles, eliminating the need to hire drivers to transport oil sands ore. The switch has improved oil output productivity at Imperial's Kearl oil sands mine by 20 per cent since 2023, the company said. Suncor operates a 900-tonne truck at its Fort Hills operation north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, which the company says is the world's largest hydraulic mining shovel. Suncor CEO Rich Kruger said the shovel's larger bucket and more powerful digging force deliver faster ore loading and less spillage. Oil sands producers have also made improvements in equipment reliability and performance. At Kearl, for example, Imperial has reduced expenses related to turnarounds — an industry term for the costly periods of required maintenance that often involve temporarily shutting down production — by $100 million (Cdn) annually since 2021. The company cut the time between turnarounds from 12 to 24 months in 2024 and aims to extend that interval to 48 months in future. Suncor credits efforts including standardizing maintenance practices across mines and improving management of site water to get more production out of existing assets for contributing to the company's $7 (U.S.) per barrel reduction in its West Texas Intermediate (WTI) break-even price in 2024 to $42.90. Story continues below advertisement This long-term focus on cost-cutting means Canada's five biggest oil sands companies can break even — and still maintain their dividends — at WTI prices between $43.10 and $40.85, according to a Bank of Montreal analysis for Reuters. That means oil sands producers have lowered their overall costs by approximately $10 a barrel in about seven years. Oil sands had an average break-even price of $51.80 per barrel between 2017 and 2019, according to BMO. In contrast, a recent Dallas Federal Reserve survey of over 100 oil and gas companies in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana found that shale oil producers need a WTI oil price of $65 per barrel on average to profitably drill. Back in 2017-2019, U.S. shale producers had a break-even price of between $50 and $52 per barrel. 1:56 Dramatic crash in global oil prices–Here's why Canada is watching closely Part of the reason that the oil sands industry has become so cost competitive is the nature of the extraction process. Story continues below advertisement Producing the thick, sticky oil that is found in the sands of Alberta is in some locations more akin to mining than oil drilling. Where the oil is very close to the surface, companies operate massive mines, scraping up huge volumes of sand and clay and then filtering out the oil. When the oil is deeper, companies inject steam underground to loosen the deposits and then use a drilling process. An oil sands mine has big initial start-up costs but once it is operational, it can run for decades with very low production decline rates. Canadian Natural Resources for example, at the end of 2024 had proved and probable reserves amounting to 20.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in its portfolio, giving its oil sands mining and upgrading assets a remaining reserve lifespan of 43 years. The company's Horizon oil sands mine has been producing since 2009. Shale oil wells, by contrast, have low start up costs. Oil output from the wells, however, begins to decline within months. Prices have begun to climb because after years of heavy drilling in the top shale fields, the most productive areas have been exhausted. Drillers are moving onto secondary areas, so they have to drill more wells to achieve the same output and that has driven up costs. Canadian oil sands companies have also paid down debt in the past five years, allowing them to reallocate profits away from shoring up their balance sheets and towards rewarding shareholders with dividends and buybacks. Story continues below advertisement 1:54 Can Canada really build another oil pipeline? According to the Bank of Montreal, oil sands producers Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor, Cenovus, Imperial Oil and MEG Energy currently have combined net debt, excluding lease liabilities, of $33.9 billion (Cdn) after paying down a combined total of almost $22 billion in debt between 2021 and 2024. As returns grow, Canadian oil sands producers are an increasingly attractive investment for those looking to make money from the energy industry, said Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager with Vancouver-based Burkett Asset Management. '(Canada's oil sands) are not geopolitically risky, and they have some very appealing characteristics around productivity and costs,' said Burkett, who has shares of Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus in his portfolio.
