Suncor CEO dismisses OBAMA 'rhetoric'
RICHARD BLACKWELL
U.S. proposals that could restrict imports from Canada's oil sands are "political rhetoric" that will fade after the presidential election is over, the head of one of Canada's biggest petroleum companies said yesterday.
Rick George, chief executive officer of Suncor Energy Inc., told The Globe and Mail that the U.S. election campaign is heating up a debate that likely won't last after one of the candidates takes power.
"I think we're in political rhetoric. ... These guys will say a lot of things, but then when they get into office, it'll end up they'll do something else," Mr. George said. "The pragmatic thing is, if they don't buy crude from Canada, where are they going to buy it?"
Earlier this week, Barack OBAMA, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, endorsed a "low carbon fuel standard" that could penalize gasoline marketers in the U.S. who rely on the oil sands. Several states were already considering such a standard.
Mr. George, who is participating in a campaign by oil sands producers to show they are committed to reducing environmental damage, said it will be difficult to get the group's message across in the United States during the presidential campaign. "There's a time for a discussion and a time when you're not going to get heard above the noise," he said.
Still, it is important for the industry to point out that there is very little difference between the emissions generated by the oil sands and that from other producers around the world, he insisted. "At the end of the day I think the Americans will be pragmatic. ... Do you want to buy from Nigeria or Iran or one of the other problem states, or do you want to buy it from your neighbour?"
And even if U.S. restrictions are put in place, Canadian producers will find other markets, Mr. George said. "The practical reality ... is that this crude oil will find a home. Crude oil is a worldwide commodity and there is a world price."
Canadian oil sands producers can develop the resource responsibly, he insisted. Suncor itself has reduced emissions, per unit of production, by 44 per cent since 1990, and its use of water is down 40 per cent over the last five years.
Still, when the increase in oil sands production is taken into account, Suncor's overall emissions have risen sharply and will continue to do so.
"There are no silver bullets" to stop this trend, Mr. George said, although the industry's move to invest in carbon capture and storage technologies will help over the long term.
Their vision is a large pipeline that will carry carbon dioxide from Fort McMurray, Alta., past Edmonton to central Alberta, where the gas will be pumped into deep underground reservoirs. But that is not likely to come to fruition for several years, and will be very costly.
In the meantime, a carbon tax makes some sense, Mr. George said, as long as it is applied across all sectors and to all forms of carbon emissions, including the consumption of fuel as well as its production.
Anything that looks like a "tax grab" from industry players just won't work, he said. "If this is another National Energy Program where you're shifting money from the West to the East, then I'll tell you that in the West it will not sell."
Suncor has also been investing in clean alternative energy, such as wind power and ethanol, but Mr. George said none of these individually has the potential to displace fossil fuels on a large scale. To deal with increasing demand, particularly from the fast-growing middle class in Asia, "you've got to pull on all levers here. You've got to pull on nuclear, you've got to pull on renewables, you've got to pull on sustainable oil development."
SUNCOR ENERGY (SU)
Close: $60.45, up 10cents
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Petroleum imports
Top 15 countries with total imports year to date, in thousand barrels per day
Canada: 2,518
Saudi Arabia: 1,533
Mexico: 1,338
Venezuela: 1,158
Nigeria: 1,152
Iraq: 693
Algeria: 524
Angola: 478
Russia: 410
Virgin Islands: 338
Kuwait: 222
Ecuador: 213
Brazil: 206
U.K.: 199
Colombia: 192
Note: Exclude oil imports into the U.S. territories
KATHRYN TAM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SOURCE: ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
© 2008 The Globe and Mail |
