Abstract
You've heard the direction, you've seen the papers, and you've read the publications. The Government of Canada's March 2008 "Turning The Corner - Taking Action to Fight Climate Change" report has set the foundation for CO2 regulations which "start tough and get tougher". The "Toughest" requirements are set for new oil sands plants and coal-fired power plants that come into operation in 2012, or later. The public and legal arena is also impacted by how oil sands carbon emissions are addressed. The Report on Business, March 6, 2008, reported; "a federal court judge … found the approval of Imperial Oil Ltd's $8 billion oil sands mine insufficient on climate change and green house gas emissions." The Conference Board of Canada Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2007 has also stated that "Alberta's GHG reduction legislation will add approximately $0.18/bbl in additional operating costs for a typical integrated oil-sands mining project, and $0.22/bbl for a steam-assisted gravity drainage project." These and other factors have changed the landscape for oil sands development.
A review of the political, social, and regulatory pressures and obligations for the in situ oil sands industry to reduce its oil sands carbon foot print will be provided. This paper will discuss Laricina's insights and views on the carbon challenge, describe initiatives Laricina is taking to manage these imperatives and outline the challenges the overall industry is facing. The objective of this paper is to spur dialogue and collaboration by the oil sands industry in an effort to evolve and advance the knowledge and understanding of the impacts this important issue has on our business. This paper will also attempt to describe the dimensions of the carbon problem, point out the experience base our industry has to contribute to a solution, review the parameters to demonstrate CO2 or GHG's containment and storage, touch on the state of regulatory and policy issues, and try to scope out a progression to technical and economic success.