Canadian Natural says oil sands growth depends on new West Coast pipeline

Canadian Natural Resources says the longterm expansion of Canada’s oil sands will depend on building a new crude export pipeline to the Pacific coast. The comments came Thursday from company president Scott Stauth during an analyst call after the producer reported firstquarter results that beat expectations. Stauth said the industry needs added pipeline capacity before it can meaningfully increase oil sands output. He pointed to an Alberta governmentbacked proposal for a 1 millionbarrelperday line to British Columbia’s northwest coast, while noting that other pipeline capacity projects are also being considered. The company said production continued to rise, with total output increasing to 1.64 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the latest quarter from 1.58 million a year earlier. Its Jackfish and Horizon oil sands operations were highlighted as major contributors, with Jackfish running at record levels. Canadian Natural also said future growth at its Jackpine site remains on hold until transport capacity is available and broader federalprovincial talks on industrial carbon pricing are resolved.