Alberta Premier Alison M. Redford wasted no time delivering her message on Mar. 7: Her government plans to more actively tell the oil sands story, especially when opponents charge that the province's environmental safeguards aren't anywhere near adequate.
"It's important to rise above rhetoric and emotions and get the facts out," she told an audience at the US Energy Association. "Alberta is home to some of the strictest environmental regulations in the world."
Redford noted that air quality around oil sands operations is monitored 365 days/year, withdrawals from the Athabasca River are limited to 3% of its flow (and usually come in around 1% because producers aggressively recycle their water), and the province became the first North American government to impose greenhouse gas emission limits.
Her remarks came less than a week after producers announced they had formed Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance to improve their environmental performance. Chief executives from 12 companies representing 80% of the oil sands production community signed COSIA's charter.
"We continue to gather solid evidence that the industry is making solid progress," Redford said. This includes finding ways to use petroleum coke to make synthetic natural gas, turning the industry from a net consumer into a net supplier, she indicated. It also potentially could reduce the industry's environmental footprint, she said.
Alberta recently opened its online Oil Sands Information Portal to provide information about the cumulative effects from development of the resource on the region's air, water, land, wildlife, and climate change. The idea is to stimulate discussion, based on reliable information, Redford said.
Regulatory enhancement
The province's government also has worked on a regulatory enhancement project the past 2 years to coordinate various departments' rules affecting oil sands operations, she continued. The situation sounds similar to one in the US where the American Petroleum Institute says no fewer than 10 federal departments and agencies are considering rules that could have impacts on tight oil and gas resource development.
Alberta's response was to determine that coordination would not mean softening any needed regulation, but simply ensuring they would not overlap or be duplicative, according to Redford.
Efforts were made to involve every stakeholder, and they're all satisfied so far, she said. The government expects to follow a white paper it has issued with legislation this fall, she added.
The province's long-range economic strategy initially involves petrochemicals and bitumen upgrading plants, but ultimately could include second, third, and fourth-generation technologies embracing renewable as well as conventional energy, Redford said.
"The resource sector's environment is changing so quickly that I don't think it's possible to specifically predict what will happen," she observed.
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