Oil Sands focus shifting to Environment and Communication

Posted by Stacy Richter on October 9 at 11:20 AM I had the pleasure of attending the Oil Sands Conference and Exhibition late last month and was pleasantly surprised. I was surprised to find out how much the oil and gas industry is actually doing to reduce their impact on the environment. The two biggest topics for discussion were water usage and communication.

Now I am not an engineer nor am I a technology savant so I will admit that I began to doze a bit when topics like nanotechnology were brought up. The discussion of water usage was very interesting and was able to keep me on the edge of my seat.

For example, Selma Guigard, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, discussed her studies of supercritical fluid extraction processes for applications like bitumen extraction, treatment of oil contaminated drilling wastes and remediation of contaminated soils. Now if you just read the above statement as “blah, blah, blah, blah”, you’re in the same boat as me (as I mentioned I’m not an engineer or technically savvy). The short of the message is that the industry is developing methods to extract bitumen without the use of water! This is great news.

I was equally impressed with Apoorva Sharma’s (Devon Canada) discussion of their Jackfish SAGD project. Now to translate the “blah, blah, blah”, Apoorva explained that Devon is using only saline water for the project as opposed to fresh water. If you are still unsure of the significance, saline water is virtually unusable in agriculture as irrigation and is not potable for drinking. They admit that using saline water is more expensive in the process but well worth the benefits.... less strain on the environment.

I had mentioned that the other bulk discussion topic was communication. Chris Smith, Business Director of Operational Excellence at DuPont Safety Resources, challenged the Oil Sands industry specifically and the oil and gas industry at large. He explained that DuPont and the chemical industry were in a similar environmental and communication position 15 years ago. He advised the oil and gas industry that the time is now for revolutionary change. It is too late for incremental changes.

I found it somewhat coincidental (well not really) that Greenpeace were staging demonstrations in the Oil Sands. Pat Nelson, Vice Chair of In Situ Oil Sands Alliance, was a very passionate speaker about how Greenpeace is able to garner such wide spread media attention while Oil and Gas producers are constantly outmatched in the media arena. Although I may not agree with her delivery and some of the right wing suggestions in dealing with the matter... her point was well taken.



The oil and gas industry must do a better job at communicating what it does well while not masking the areas that need drastic improvements. In my mind, the more a scandal or injustice is covered up, the more over-exposed the issue becomes. It didn’t work at Watergate. It didn’t work in Guantanamo Bay. And it won’t work in Oil and Gas. Transparency and disclosure are critical attributes for the industry’s image. Why battle with the ENGO’s when we should embrace them? Opposition makes us stronger and challenges us to do better. You don’t have to take my word for it... the experts at the round table has already said it (see: Oil Sands Video).

Topics: energy, sustainability        SHARE: