- Western Canada
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Oil Sands
We will open an oil sands office in Fort McMurray and increase the number of local staff to facilitate improved stakeholder engagement and to enhance capacity development in the Region.
An office in Fort McMurray opened in late 2009. Three new positions have been created: a local business development coordinator, a capacity development coordinator and an office administrator. These three positions are in addition to the current local Community Investment Coordinator. Our Oil Sands Stakeholder Engagement team works to ensure that stakeholders are aware of the office and the meeting facilities it provides.
We will work with other agencies to develop and implement innovative best practices in an effort to mitigate social concerns with emphasis on youth development in the Region.
Through the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative, we chair a "Sustainable Communities Working Group" which is designing and implementing an education initiative to increase the participation and success of youth in primary school. A pilot project was established in Janvier, Alberta with a community coordinator hired through the Ghost River Rediscovery Centre. "I am Beautiful Because" workshops were held in several communities, including Janvier, Heart Lake and Beaver Lake to boost self--esteem among Aboriginal youth and women. In addition, the "Gen Y: We Care" workshop was held in June with 60 participants from all communities represented at the introductory workshop; a follow-up “Train the Trainer” program was held at our offices in October 2009 to build local capacity.
We will continue to provide financial support for education, training programs and to provide practicum placements.
We continue to provide financial support to the Keyano College Environmental Monitor Training Program to train local community members and have actively discussed program structure and curriculum with the college. We award one $2,500 trade bursary annually to a student in the Fort McMurray area. We funded an Operators Apprenticeship Training Program in the amount of $450,000. This past year, four local residents completed the Operators Apprenticeship Training Program, all of whom gained employment in the oil and gas industry.
We will lead an initiative that brings together stakeholders and industry to develop and support a driving behaviour modification campaign for Highways 63 and 881.
We supported the development and launch of a safe driver awareness campaign "Coalition for a Safer 63 & 881." Support among the oil sands industry continues to grow.
We will work with the Northern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association and the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce to continue to increase the opportunity for local and Aboriginal contractors to access contracts with ConocoPhillips Canada through the use of the online REDlink process. We will also work with existing and new Aboriginal entrepreneurs to provide business development support.
We sponsored, provided keynote speakers and attended the Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association Business Expo to learn more about the capabilities of local contractors. A stakeholder engagement and procurement process was developed for drilling, completions and seismic work to help ensure local and Aboriginal contractors are on the list for work opportunities and potential bids. Twenty-two percent of our winter drilling, completions and seismic work was completed by local and regional contractors. A beginners- level driver’s license program was also launched for Fort McMurray, Chipewyan Prairie Dene and Heart Lake First Nation with a focus on safe driving skills and literacy.
We will support the development of federal greenhouse gas regulations.
We participated in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ Climate Change Working Group to develop and present climate change policy options to federal and provincial governments. ConocoPhillips Canada provided technical information to governments to ensure an understanding of how policy options affect the energy business. We focused on building relationships with influential individuals, academics and stakeholders to discuss our climate change efforts and ensure that governments are aware that ConocoPhillips Canada is committed to being a responsible energy developer. We actively participate in government-led policy development committees and task groups.
We will include the potential for carbon capture and storage in long range planning for all new developments.
Early phase engineering and economic analysis of carbon capture and storage for Surmont Phase 2 determined it is not currently a cost-effective solution for typical once-through-steam generator, steam-assisted gravity drainage facilities. We have re-focused our efforts to look broadly at carbon management solutions that include other technological solutions and market-based opportunities. Surmont Phase 2 is being designed to be carbon capture ready in the event carbon capture and storage is cost-effective in the future. A Surmont carbon dioxide storage study and a carbon dioxide capture technology study are underway. We are continuing to study carbon dioxide mitigation opportunities including optimization of heat integration, evaluating technologies for low quality heat recovery and developing a full long-term carbon dioxide reduction strategy. We continue to discuss and develop our carbon market capabilities to transact and purchase carbon credits to meet compliance obligations, attending several meetings with offset providers nationally and internationally.
We will support the regional land planning under the Land Use Framework.
A ConocoPhillips Canada employee was nominated by the Cumulative Environmental Management Association and appointed by Alberta’s Cabinet as a member of the Regional Advisory Council established to provide advice and recommendations on key cumulative environmental effects and land management issues for the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan. The advice provided by the Regional Advisory Council is being reviewed by the Government of Alberta with the expectation that the government will consult Albertans on the draft plan later in 2010.
We will continue leadership in the development of a regional land, wildlife and biodiversity monitoring program.
Currently, each oil sands developer completes independent monitoring and reports information to government. As a result, combining this data and reporting meaningful information to stakeholders on a regional basis has been challenging. The vision for a regional program is to use information from The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute as a foundation, with regional and sub-regional monitoring programs targeting specific questions and issues, and to have local site- specific monitoring using common protocols for data collection, with credible periodic reporting to stakeholders. To begin developing this program, we championed the formation of a government/industry task group, through the Oil Sands Developers Group and worked with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. This task group will help formalize a governance group, multi-year work plan and industry-funding requirements.
We will continue leadership in the advancement of a joint government-industry regional groundwater information database.
Along with OPTI Canada and Nexen, we co-led an industry initiative in 2007 to develop a regional groundwater model, beginning with a project to select preferred modeling software. In mid-2008, industry sought advice from Alberta Environment before proceeding further. Alberta Environment decided to take a leadership role in developing a regional groundwater model and in late 2008 awarded a contract to collect information from all the in-situ developers south of Fort McMurray. Alberta Environment released its information on a regional groundwater model and a new Groundwater Management Framework draft for the Southern Athabasca Oil Sands for comment in late 2009. Our geology data was used to help build the model and we have provided comments. We also reviewed and provided input on the draft Groundwater Management Framework.
We will continue ongoing work in 2009 to search for more saline water sources that would replace our current non-saline water use.
Since 2007, we have spent approximately $26.5 million exploring for saline water (including 19 wells drilled and tested up to 60 kilometres from the Surmont Project). In 2009, we shifted our water delineation program to focus on finding alternative brackish (saline) water sources in Clearwater and Lower Grand Rapids. Modifications to the Surmont Phase 2 design are being made for the facility to handle brackish (saline) water. Changes to the current design include additional saline water wells and pipeline, saline water tanks, cold lime softeners, heat exchangers and revisions to the disposal system to account for the increase in disposal rates. Brackish water with low salinity is being targeted to reduce the proportional non-saline water use to less than seven percent.
We will continue our support for regional woodland caribou conservation, including providing lead industry representation in the Athabasca Landscape Planning Team under the Alberta Caribou Committee.
A ConocoPhillips Canada employee was one of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers technical representatives on Athabasca Landscape Planning Team, operating from June 2008 to May 2009. The team completed a detailed technical analysis of management options and provided recommendations to the Alberta Caribou Committee Governance Board. The committee’s Governance Board has reviewed the report and provided its recommendations to the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. We provided consistent and active support for the work of the Athabasca Landscape Planning Team. A ConocoPhillips Canada employee is also one of three Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers representatives on the Alberta Caribou Committee Governance Board, which provides recommendations to the Alberta Government on caribou recovery, including research and monitoring. We provided $60,000 to support the salary for the Alberta Caribou Committee Research Sub-Committee Chair at the University of Alberta.
We will join the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association and Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program.
We expressed interest in the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association and were accepted as a member in March 2009. Through joining and funding the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association, we support a high calibre monitoring program that includes a regional ambient air monitoring program with real-time reporting to a publicly accessible website for use by our stakeholders. The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association also includes a program to monitor the effects of air emissions on vegetation and soils in the region. The results of the monitoring program will help to validate predicted cumulative air emissions impacts assessed as part of our Environmental Impact Assessment. We have also been unanimously endorsed as a new member of the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program. Based on their respective funding formulas, we paid $68,000 towards the $10 million budget of the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association and $50,000 towards the $3.3 million budget of the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program.
We will spend over $300 million in the next five years on oil sands research and development including research to reduce environmental impacts
In 2008 and 2009 we spent approximately $116 million on heavy oil technology research and development. Of the total, $90 million was focused on oil sands and of that $25 million was directed at projects that have an environmental focus. Specific environmental projects included studying evaporator technologies (to reduce non-saline water use) and combustion systems (to reduce emissions). Additional projects focused on lowering the steam to oil ratio of bitumen production which will result in less water used, less carbon dioxide generated and smaller facilities. These were primarily lab and engineering studies (often with joint industry partners). As technologies advance to pilot and field demonstrations, increased spending in future years is anticipated to support those demonstrations.
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