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Vol. 22, No. 4 Week of January 22, 2017
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry

Hanoi Jane screened out

Joins call for end to developing oil sands, loses spotlight to pipeline expansion

GARY PARK

For Petroleum News

It was almost as if the governments of British Columbia and Alberta decided to gang up on Jane Fonda, the Oscar-winning actress and anti-Vietnam War protester from a distant past, when she acquired the label Hanoi Jane.

Fonda, like film director James Cameron, singer Neil Young and actor Leonardo DiCaprio before her, made a 24-hour visit to Alberta on Jan. 11, taking a crash course in the oil sands by buzzing over the region in a helicopter, holdings a news conference flanked by a handful of Native leaders and delivering a speech in Edmonton.

In the process she took a stab at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for signing on to a global climate agreement a year ago, then approving two pipeline projects to ship oil sands bitumen to markets in the United States and Asia.

Fonda also managed to offend Alberta government leaders by accepting an invitation to meet with them, then failing to show up, and capped her day by telling oil sands workers they should be looking for environmentally friendly jobs rather than continuing to work “in an industry that is unsustainable.”

Trans Mountain gets green light

While she was cutting a swath across Alberta, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark announced her government had given a green light to Kinder Morgan’s plans to triple capacity to 890,000 barrels per day on its Trans Mountain pipeline from the oil sands to an export tanker terminal in the Port of Vancouver.

She said the “unprecedented” agreement would see Kinder Morgan contribute up to C$1 billion over 20 years to a fund for environmental protection.

Clark also said the environmental certificate clearing the way for Kinder Morgan to start construction comes with 37 conditions, in addition to the 157 conditions required by the National Energy Board.

To meet requirements previously set by the B.C. government, the proponent will address concerns raised by aboriginal groups, including impacts on vegetation, wildlife, parks and protected areas, along with measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions and respond to any spills on land or water.

A joint statement by Environment Minister Mary Polak and Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman said the C$6.8 billion project “will have economic benefits for British Columbia workers, families and communities. However, we have always been clear economic development will not come at the expense of the environment.”

Those thoughts were echoed by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who welcomed the decision by her neighboring province.

Ian Anderson, president of Kinder Morgan Canada, welcomed the “milestone,” expressing confidence that corporate sanctioning is likely by September, allowing shipments to start by late 2019.

However, Notley did caution that some aboriginal and environmental groups, along with the city governments of Vancouver and Burnaby, are still threatening to mount further legal action against Kinder Morgan.

“We are closer than ever to breaking our landlock (on the offshore export of bitumen) and fixing a problem that has dogged our province for decades,” she said.

Fonda challenged

But Notley did not pass up the opportunity to deliver an extensive broadside at Fonda, accusing the Hollywood celebrity of “not knowing what she is talking about.”

In lecturing the oil sands workers, Fonda had demonstrated that “she is super tone-deaf,” Notley said.

“I would suggest that dining out on your celebrity is something that one ought to also pair with knowledge and research. She didn’t do that and I don’t think as a result much of her intervention requires or deserves the air time it’s getting,” she said.

Notley was especially annoyed that Fonda urged Alberta to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a sustainable green economy, apparently unaware that Alberta has introduced North America’s toughest carbon tax.

Robbie Picard, founder of a pro-industry Oil Sands Strong group, confronted Fonda, asking if she was aware that the Fort McKay First Nation, which occupies a large chunk of the oil sands region, had just invested C$250 million in the resource, while almost 300 aboriginal-owned businesses were benefiting from oil sands development.

“We will no longer tolerate celebrities coming here for a day to take a ride over the oil sands, then attacking us,” he said. “I thought clearly that she was not being informed about the good things that industry is doing, like land reclamation. Unfortunately, she just ran off.”

Picard said Fonda’s visit was insensitive to the thousands of people who lost their homes in last May’s Fort McMurray wildfire and have since lost their jobs.

Fonda responded that she was “not here to trash Alberta, to trash Fort McMurray or the men and women who work in the tar sands. That’s not our purpose. We are at a moment in human history that is absolutely unique. This has never happened before.”

To that, Notley said “what we really need is to have well-informed, adult conversations,” not the observations of someone who bases her views on a whistle-stop visit then “climbs into her jet and flies back home.”



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On one hand, on the ...

In late November, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved major expansions of two pipelines to transport more than 1.8 million barrels per day of crude bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to United States and Asian markets.

On Jan. 13, speaking to a town hall meeting in Ontario, he said Canada should “phase out” the oil sands.

“You can’t make a choice between what’s good for the environment and what’s good for the economy,” Trudeau said when challenged to explain how he could reconcile his introduction of a carbon tax on oil sands production while endorsing new pipelines.

“We can’t shut the oil sands down tomorrow. We need to phase them out. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels.”

In the process he seemed to undercut a budding friendship with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who was quick to counter that the oil sands are “not going anywhere, any time soon.”

She said oil and natural gas will help power the global economy for generations to come “and our job is to make sure that Alberta’s product is the first in line. That’s why we’re working with the industry to position Alberta as a global energy leader ... the most progressive and sustainable producer of oil and gas anywhere in the world.”

Other political leaders in Alberta were less diplomatic, with Brian Jean, leader of the opposition Wildrose Party, saying Trudeau “has confirmed Albertans’ worst fears about his Liberal government and its plans for our energy sector.”

“By vowing to ‘phase out’ the oil sands he has declared his true feelings towards our province and Western Canada as a whole.”

Jean said he was “sick and tired of people attacking our oil sands. I truly would suggest that Mr. Trudeau keep his comments to himself when he doesn’t know what he is talking about.”

Jason Kenney, a leading contender to win leadership of the Alberta Conservative Party, asked if Trudeau’s objective was to “hand over all global oil production” to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar.

Alberta Liberal leader David Swann, a long-time critic of oil sands development, said that given the “current international economic climate, the (Alberta oil) industry does not need more uncertainty about its future. We need our prime minister to not only support this industry, the economic engine of the country, but to communicate that clearly.”

Under fire, Trudeau’s office issued a statement that he and previous prime ministers, including his immediate successor Stephen Harper, “have been saying for a long time ... that we need to move away from our dependency on fossil fuels.”

In 2014, prior to the collapse of oil prices, the oil sands contributed C$91 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has projected oil sands output will rise by 850,000 bpd by 2021 and grow by about 50 percent from last year’s level to 3.7 million bpd.

The “speed at which technology is developing continually makes them more of a viable opportunity,” said CAPP President Tim McMillan.

Kevin Birn, director of the Canadian oil sands for IHS Energy, noted that oil sands mines are designed to have operating lives of 40 years, while steam-driven projects are built for a 25- to 35-year timeframe.

“We think that at some point after 2030 you’ll see projects that are 30 or 40 years old begin to near the end of their natural life,” he said.

—GARY PARK