The Quest project, the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for an oil sands operation in Canada, has gotten support from the Governments of Canada and Alberta and will soon be underway, Shell announced.

The Canadian government and the Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture owners (Shell, Chevron and Marathon Oil) say CCS is necessary to meet projected increases in global energy demand while reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.  Alberta's oil sands are a secure, reliable source of energy and an economic engine which drives employment, training and business development across Canada and beyond, they say. The Athabasca Oil Sands project produces bitumen, which is piped to Shell's Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta.  From late 2015, Quest will capture and store deep underground more than one million tonnes a year of CO₂ produced in bitumen processing.  Quest will reduce direct emissions from the Scotford Upgrader by up to 35 per cent - the equivalent of taking 175,000 North American cars off the road annually.

Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell plc, said, "If you want to achieve climate change goals, CCS has to be part of the solution.  We are helping to advance CCS technology on a number of fronts around the world, but Quest will be our flagship project."  

Both the Canadian federal and Albertan provincial governments have identified CCS as an important technology in their strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions. The Alberta government will invest $745 million in Quest from a $2-billion fund to support CCS, while the Government of Canada will invest $120 million through its Clean Energy Fund.

"Today's announcement reaffirms Alberta's position as a global leader in carbon capture and storage," said Energy Minister Ken Hughes. "Technologies like CCS will play an instrumental role in helping to lower greenhouse gas intensity from the oil sands and demonstrate to the world Alberta's commitment to responsible energy development."

The International Energy Agency (IEA) calls CCS "a crucial part of worldwide efforts to limit global warming" and estimates that it could deliver about one-fifth of necessary worldwide reductions in greenhouse gases by 2050.  Shell is also working with governments and experts to help the development of CCS in other countries, including projects in Norway and Australia.

Quest is the world's first commercial-scale CCS project to tackle carbon emissions in the oil sands, and the first CCS project in which Shell will hold majority ownership and act as designer, builder and operator.  It will also form the core of Shell's CCS research programme and help develop Shell's CO₂ capture technology.  

Shell has received the necessary federal and provincial regulatory approvals for Quest.  Construction has begun and will employ an average of about 400 skilled trades workers over roughly 30 months, peaking at about 700.