The costs of producing bitumen and synthetic crude in the Albertan oil sands have increased over the past year, says the Canadian Energy Research Institute in an annual report that projects steady growth in output. Compared with last year’s report, estimated costs of production before blending and transportation are up 4.4% for steam-assisted gravity drainage , 1.6% for mining without upgrading, and 5.9% for integrated mining and upgrading ( OGJ Online, May 29, 2013 ). The new estimates of plant-gate supply costs: $50.89/bbl (Can.) for SAGD, $71.81/bbl for stand-alone mining, and $107.57/bbl for integrated mining. CERI estimates the cost of stand-alone upgrading at $40.82/bbl. When the price of West Texas Intermediate crude is $100/bbl, the only economic production technology when blending and transportation are included in the estimate is SAGD, CERI points out. After those adjustments, the WTI-equivalent supply costs at the Cushing, Okla., pricing hub are $84.99/bbl (US) […]