Aug 23 Reuters A busy oil sands maintenance season and early summer wildfires put a dent in Canadian crude production in the second quarter, but oil companies are ramping up growth over the next two years and will add nearly 8 to Canada39;s total output, analysts estimate.

The roughly 375,000 barrel per day bpd increase in two years would be more than Canada, the world39;s fourthlargest oil producer, has managed to add over the last five years combined, even after promising European allies it would boost crude output in the wake of Russia39;s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

According to Canada Energy Regulator data, Canadian oil production averaged 4.86 million bpd in 2022, up from 4.61 million bpd in 2018.

Much of the growth will come from oil sands producers like Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNRL tweaking operations to boost efficiency.

Companies are also moving forward on socalled stepout or tieback oil sands thermal projects, where instead of building an entirely new facility to steam bitumen deposits, they are linking new areas with existing plants to speed up development and lower costs.

The move to boost output while continuing to funnel free cash to shareholders shows producers are confident prices will stay firm, analysts said.

Companies can finally say things have recovered enough in the industry that we can maintain returns to shareholders and put some money into production growth, said RBN Energy analyst Martin King….