Canada's urgent hunt for buyers for its oil is being thwarted as the European Commission sticks to a plan to label fuel from tar sands deposits as highly polluting, deterring refiners bound by environmental rules.
Intense pressure from Canada, seeking new markets to compensate for dwindling U.S. buying and discounted sales, has not convinced the EU executive to abandon its proposal to brand tar sands oil as more carbon-intensive than conventional crude.
"The Commission stands by its proposal," said an EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is an impact assessment ongoing now that is looking at the methodological aspect of the proposal."
Canada sits on the world's third-largest crude reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. But the vast majority is unconventional, including tar sands - clay-like deposits that require more energy than conventional oil to extract.
EU member states approved legislation in 2009, ...