Canada’s oil sands producers are prepared to take a greater leadership role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
“We developed the technology to get the oil out of the sand, and we are just as committed to getting our carbon out of the air,” said CAPP Pres. Tim McMillan.
“Climate change is a global challenge that needs to be tackled with broad-based policies that consider production and consumption by everyone,” McMillan said. “We will lead on technology and policy, but climate change is greater than the oil sands, greater than Alberta. Everyone has a role to play.”
Since 1990, oil sands companies have reduced GHG emissions by 30%/bbl. The oil sands industry is investing more than $1 billion in technologies to produce oil with lower GHGs than other sources of oil.
CAPP said Alberta’s revised Specific Gas Emitters Regulations (SGER) and Alberta’s recently announced corporate tax increase have the potential to add nearly $800 million to industry costs over the next 2 years. Money raised from the revised regulations will continue to flow to the technology development fund.
Policies to increase the price on carbon must spur direct investments into GHG-reducing technologies to address climate change, CAPP said.
“The competitiveness of our industry on the world stage is important to keeping Albertans working,” McMillan said. “We will continue to work with the Alberta government to protect jobs and investment to keep the industry healthy for all Albertans.”