Shell announced on Friday that it had signed agreements with the Governments of Alberta and Canada to secure $865 million in funding for its Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project. The Quest Project will capture and permanently store deep underground more than one million tons of carbon dioxide per year from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta, which processes heavy oil from the Athabasca oil sands. “Quest would be the first application of CCS technology for an oil sands upgrading operation,” says John Abbott, Shell’s Executive Vice President of Heavy Oil. Shell aims to improve its oil sands environmental performance through carbon dioxide reduction, improved water management and minimal impacts of tailings ponds.