Oil sands capital investment's massive surge peaked in 2014
Over $37 billion invested in oil sands energy extraction in 2014
From less than $1 billion in 1994 and just $6 billion in 2004, over $37 billion in capital investment rushed in oil sands projects in 2014, according to Statistics Canada’s report on capital flows.
The investments were made to establish the capacity to extract oil sands energy during years the price of oil increased from under $25 USD per barrel in 2002 to over $100 USD in 2014. In the second half of 2014 prices dropped by half and investment dropped by $12 billion to $25 billion in 2015.
The Canadian dollar also surged for much of this time, rising from $0.65 USD in 2002 to $1.06 USD in mid-2011. For the next three years the currency drifted down to about $0.90 USD by September 2014 then sudden plunged to under $0.75 by the year’s end.