Boom, Bust and Consolidation

In 2015–2017, the Big Five were all vocal on what this phase of consolidation means for the future of the industry, with all five downplaying the possibility of large-scale expansion of productive capacity in the near-term. [...] The accumulation dynamics of the Big Five must be examined in the context of the commodity cycles that mark the development of extractive capital. [...] The price dynamics of commodity extraction and circulation drive an investment cycle that is prone to immense overshoots, which, depending on the depth of the investment process—from exploration to the construction of massive extractive facilities and the associated transport infrastructure—can have dire economic consequences as the value of fixed capital is destroyed during the inevitable downtur [...] In the case of the Big Five, direct costs are what it costs to extract a barrel of bitumen and eventually the costs of refining and selling a grade of oil. [...] Suncor alone spent $10 billion of the total overhead costs of the Big Five because of the size and complexity of the firm.