Canada's oil sands: production returning in Q3 2020

Following a brutal Q2, with negative pricing due to coronavirus and oversupply concerns, Q3 saw much needed albeit only moderate improvement in oil price. On the heels of billions of capex cuts and hundreds of thousands of barrels being taken offline from production curtailments, the third quarter trended in the right direction. Price realisations improved by massive percentages, and production began to come back online as the new normal became clearer. The end of Q3 is not as rosy as the start, as differentials have widened slightly, and benchmark prices exited below their August highs. Q4 will be telling as curtailment ends in Alberta and producers are able to go full steam ahead to ramp up their projects in 2021.