China Steps Up to Purchase America's Share of Canadian Oil Sands

Environmental groups were delighted to hear that major US firms, from the Pentagon to Shell Oil, were pulling out of their controversial Canadian tar sands projects. The development program, which extracts crude oil from sediment at three to four times the total carbon footprint, has been the target of multiple environmental awareness campaigns that brought the message to shareholders and business leaders across the United States. In response, China is stepping in to buy up oil sands projects in order to fuel their economic growth. China's state owned oil company has spent billions in the last month alone to acquire majority stake in a pair of Canadian oil sands projects.

Canada's prime minister welcomed China's business ventures, which make up for slipping demand from his country's largest customer, the United States. The Guardian reports that the United States still consumes about 65% of the total output from current oil sands projects, but that no American buyers are showing interest in newly developed projects. As new oil sands operations are about to come online in MacKay River and Dover, China is filling in for the United States as majority stakeholder and importer of Canadian crude.

Korea, Japan, and India are reported to have current or developing oil interests in Canada as well. While there are political ramifications of supplying energy to emerging powers instead of continental neighbors in the United States and Mexico, Canada has shown renewed willingness to work across the Pacific. The projected crash in oil prices is only expected to amplify the situation.