Significant restructuring and consolidation of the Alberta oil sands industry have occurred since the 2014 global oil price crash. Four companies now dominate oil sands production in the province: Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), Cenovus Energy, and Imperial Oil. Until 2020, the group of oil sands majors — then known as the “Big Five” — also included Husky Energy. After the January 2021 merger of Cenovus and Husky, this oligarchical bloc became the Big Four. The Big Four operate 86% of bitumen production (almost 3.5 million barrels a day). As vertically integrated corporations, the Big Four also own substantial refining and upgrading facilities, and three of the four companies own gas stations. This report explains how the Big Four are leading the push to automate away even more jobs in the coming years. Yet, these large companies are also among the biggest beneficiaries of the United Conservative Party (UCP) government’s corporate tax cut from 12% in mid-2019 to 8% in mid-2020. The tax cut was sold as a way to create jobs and boost the economy, but that is not what happened. The research shows the Big Four used the tax giveaway to increase executives’ pay and boost cash transfers to shareholders while accelerating automation and cutting jobs.
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- Canada
