Advertisement

Imperial Oil vows to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10% per barrel

Imperial Oil's Kearl mine northeast of Fort McMurray, Alta. Imperial Oil handout

Imperial Oil Ltd. is pledging to cut its oilsands greenhouse gas emissions per barrel by 10 per cent over the next five years as it ramps up production and works to get in line with increasingly stringent environmental regulation.

CEO Rich Kruger says the company will achieve the improvement compared with 2016 by employing new technologies at its legacy Cold Lake oilsands wells, by reaching the full 220,000-barrels-per-day capacity of its Kearl oilsands mining project and through other incremental efficiencies.

READ MORE: Imperial Oil expects Alberta projects will get approval despite NDP climate plan

He says further improvements could come if its proposed 75,000-bpd, $2.4-billion Aspen oilsands project gets regulatory approval, expected by year-end, and is sanctioned by the company for construction.

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Following a media tour of the company’s research centre in southeast Calgary, Kruger says Imperial will use solvents to reduce by as much as 25 per cent the amount of steam needed to make heavy sticky bitumen flow from horizontal wells at Aspen.

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Syncrude partner deals must ‘make sense’ for all: Imperial Oil CEO

The Alberta Energy Regulator is considering holding a public hearing on the project after inviting interveners to register, possibly extending an application process that began in 2013.

READ MORE: Pollution from Canadian refineries an ’embarrassment’ compared to U.S.

At Cold Lake, Imperial is proposing to expand the use of its cyclic solvent process to almost eliminate the use of steam and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 per cent in parts of the oilfield.

“In a world that prices carbon, and has escalating prices for carbon in the future, actions like this will indeed make us more competitive,” Kruger said.

READ MORE: Canada committed to Paris Accord regardless of Trump decision: Ottawa 

He said the goals are good for business but acknowledged they will also help Imperial adjust to proposed federal clean fuel standards designed to achieve reductions in GHG emissions by 2030.

Sponsored content

AdChoices