Alberta, Ottawa and Oil Sands Giants Agree to Advance World's Largest Post-Combustion Carbon Capture Project

The Alberta government, the federal government and the Oil Sands Alliance (Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil, Suncor, Cenovus Energy and ConocoPhillips) signed a memorandum of understanding on July 13, 2026 to advance the Pathways carbon capture and storage project. A hub near Cold Lake, Alberta would capture and permanently store roughly 6 million tonnes of CO2 per year from oil sands facilities by the mid-2030s -- what Oil Sands Alliance president Kendall Dilling called "the biggest post-combustion carbon capture and storage project in the world." Infrastructure is targeted to be in service by January 1, 2032, with the full project complete three years later. The federal government committed to extending investment tax credits for carbon capture equipment to 2035, and Alberta said it will finalize its own incentive program. The agreement also satisfies a key federal condition tied to unlocking backing for a possible new oil export pipeline to Canada's west coast.