CALGARY — Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) has said it is deferring an oil sands mine expansion in light of regulatory uncertainties from Ottawa.The Calgary-based oil and gas giant had planned to expand its Jackpine oil sands mine in northern Alberta to the tune of $8.25 billion, but those plans are now on hold due to the Liberal government’s policies and it has called for an end to the carbon tax.The Canadian Press reports the Jackpine project would have included the construction of a new extraction and treatment processing plant, which was slated to increase the company’s bitumen production by 150,000 barrels per day (bpd).Scott Strauth, president of CNRL, told investors Thursday that the project was being deferred “due to a lack of finalization of government regulatory policies around carbon pricing and methane, which creates uncertainty and an economic burden for our long-term growth.”.Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy in November, which included emissions policies and a carbon tax as part of the agreement.Strauth said CNRL will wait until both governments reach an agreement on those issues by April 1, at which time the company will know if the project remains economically viable.“We’re positive that the governments are working very diligently together and we’re going to come up with a positive outcome,” Strauth said.“We’re just being very prudent from our perspective and ensuring that the outcomes from that are reviewed internally here to ensure that we can tell our investors that growth in oil sands is going to be economically competitive.”CNRL — which is one of Canada’s largest natural gas producers — produced 1.57 million bpd in 2025, roughly 15% more than in 2024, and the company’s net earnings were roughly $10.8 billion..Enbridge CEO says company won't fund proposed Alberta-BC pipeline.The company is now reducing its 2026 forecast operating and capital expenditures by $310 million, which brings this year’s outlay to just under $6 billion.Reacting to the news, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) said that Canada’s carbon taxes and regulations are “weighing down our economy.”“Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney need to get out of the way by scrapping all carbon taxes completely,” Kris Sims, CTF Alberta director, said in an official statement.“Even a pause on a multi-billion-dollar project costs Canadians jobs and costs governments royalties that could slow soaring government debt. A cancellation of a project like this would be a serious blow.“This is a wake-up call to Smith and Carney: It’s time to scrap carbon taxes completely.”.Tory leader Pierre Poilievre took to social media on Friday, calling the MOU an "illusion.""At this moment, the world is crying out for our oil, the price is rocketing, and one of our biggest oil companies slams the brakes on its investments, citing Carney’s carbon tax and regulations," Poilievre wrote on X."We need to move from rhetoric to results. Now."
