Canadian heavy crude traded below $40 a barrel for the first time in five years just as surge of new projects are scheduled to start operation. A total of 14 new oil sands projects are scheduled to start next year with a combined capacity of 266,240 barrels a day, according to data published by Oilsands Review. That’s 36 percent more than was started in 2014. Oil futures have dropped more than 40 percent since June as production surged in the U.S. and Canada , adding to OPEC output that exceeded the group’s target for six consecutive months. OPEC decided to maintain its production level at a Nov. 27 meeting, resisting calls from members including Venezuela to reduce supply. “There is a lot of crude coming on next year,” Juan Osuna, IHS Energy Inc.’s senior director for North American oil said in a phone interview Dec. 12. Producers “aren’t going […]