Evidence of meeting #101 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was process.
A video is available from Parliament.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
At this moment, we have a huge undercapacity of pipelines until we get these new pipelines built and operating. We have increased production forecast in the oil sands, and we have increased—
Liberal
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
No, these are projects that have been on the books and are coming on stream now.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
The other part of it is that there will still be an imbalance in pipeline capacity going forward. We will need new pipelines. It's not just new pipelines. We need new markets. We have to be able to extract the best value for our resources.
As I said it in my comments, the other thing is there needs to be a vision of the future. In the deep basin we have tremendous resources of natural gas, light oil condensate, and so on, that are as competitive today with the technologies being used as the Permian in the U.S. The difference is, we can't get the stuff to market. If we had access to market that would be a very big industry going forward, so we need the policies and we need the vision for—
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
But Kinder Morgan being approved definitely is a boon to—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Mike, I'm sorry, but you've run out of time.
Thank you.
Ms. Kusie, do you want to pick up on that?
Calgary Midnapore, CPC
Thank you.
Mr. Abel, will the implementation of a carbon tax reduce emissions, yes or no?
Executive Vice-President, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
I'm not trying to be evasive. It's not that easy. We're still understanding the implementation of that. On the current state of implementation and clarity on how some of the carbon policies across the country will be implemented, I would say we're at very high risk of leakage of carbon outside of Canada, so the resource won't be produced in Canada but will likely be produced in a jurisdiction that has no carbon policy.
Calgary Midnapore, CPC
Thank you.
I will now yield the floor to my colleague, Mr. Godin.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Thank you, dear colleague.
I'd like to thank the witnesses for their patience.
Listening to you today, I feel like you're on the defensive.
My question is mainly for the representatives of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada.
In the past, have you done anything to demonstrate your interest in protecting the environment? Have any concrete measures, processes, or methods been put in place to improve your industry?
My question is for Mr. Abel, Mr. Bloomer, and Ms. McDonald.
Executive Vice-President, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
Sure, I'd be happy to provide just a couple of examples. As a former regulator, I've worked with virtually every jurisdiction in the world that produces oil and gas, and I can say quite confidently that Canada has some of the most stringent environmental requirements on the planet.
As a former regulator, albeit it in Alberta, I can tell you that, where most of the production is, the level of compliance with those very stringent regulations is higher than anywhere else in the world as well.
I'll give you a couple of examples of environmental improvements. When I started in the industry as a regulator in the early 1980s, the oil sands were still just a dream, not a true vision, and the primary source of water for SAGD or the cyclic steam stimulation technology was surface water from lakes and rivers, etc. I'm proud to say that the industry today uses practically no fresh water other than for potable water at their facilities. All the new SAGD projects make up all of their water needs recycling the water that is produced and using deep saline sources for that.
I would also say that Canada has been a world leader in terms of reducing flaring as well. Those are two simple examples.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
So those are all the actions you've taken.
Now I'd like to give you a chance to answer the question, Mr. Bloomer. What have you done, in your industry, to protect the environment?
I think you are people who are building the economy, but also protecting the environment. There's been an evolution. Mr. Abel, you said that Canada has higher, more stringent standards than other countries.
So, Mr. Bloomer, have you also taken steps to improve the environmental impact of your industry?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
Thank you very much for the question.
You know, in the pipeline industry, performance in safety is number one. For the technologies that go into monitoring pipelines and constructing pipelines, emergency planning and management are at the forefront. A lot of work goes into evaluating the ongoing inline inspection of pipelines and new technologies, very complex technologies that improve safety.
On land use, river crossings, for example, we're using horizontal drilling technology to drill under rivers, not go across them. There are a number of things in terms of leak detection that are going on.
On every front on performance in safety, which is the number one thing for the pipelines, that is job one for the industry and a technology driver.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Thank you.
Ms. McDonald, do you have anything to add?
Interim Executive Director, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
I can speak from the exploration perspective of the mining industry. PDAC is an organization that has worked over the last 10 years to develop a flagship product of ours that is called e3 Plus. It's a comprehensive series of guidance that we provide to our members to help them improve their environmental, social, and health and safety practices.
We recognize that often our members are the first in on the ground in terms of where they're working communities, and this is—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
I'll have to stop you there because we have only a minute left.
My takeaway from your testimony today is that you're deeply troubled by Bill C-69. In the past, you've demonstrated your willingness to adopt environmental standards while adhering to sustainable development principles. Naturally, economic development is also important.
Is it fair to say that the existing legislation lacks the necessary tools for us to go further, be more competitive, and balance sustainable development with economic development?
Executive Vice-President, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
Again, I'd reiterate that there are multiple components. I like the comments Chris made, that even just a strong signal from Canada to acknowledge the contribution this industry has made—to acknowledge that this industry has been very responsible environmentally and socially and will continue to be so—would go a long way to restoring confidence.
Some of the things we've talked about in terms of improvements to the bill would be very helpful in sending those signals, but overall just knowing that Canada supports and believes it can operate a sustainable oil and gas industry for the benefit of all Canadians and globally would be a strong signal to the investment community.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Thank you all very much for your time today and for your answers to the questions. We have had less time than we'd hoped for, but we agreed to go 15 minutes beyond and I pushed it beyond that. Some of our members have to go to their next meetings. Thank you again.
Tomorrow we start again at 8:30 until 10:30 back here.
Thank you, and thank you to our guests.
The committee is adjourned.