Imperial pumps C$10 million into Alberta oil sands research

Gary Park

Imperial Oil has cast a vote on the future of Alberta’s oil sands by kicking in C$10 million over the next five years to establish a new research facility at the University of Alberta.

One of the largest oil sands and heavy oil operators in northeastern Alberta, Imperial said the sector can play a major role in meeting energy needs, but faces economic and environmental challenges that will be “costly and energy intensive.”

It said the center for oil sands innovation will seek ways to develop “new energy-efficient and environmentally responsible technologies for the integrated production and upgrading of Alberta’s oil sands resources, to provide clean-energy and value-added products.”

The center, attached to the engineering faculty, will hire five new professors and generate work for more than 100 researchers, said faculty dean David Lynch.

Alberta’s Innovation and Science Minister Victor Doerksen said he is counting on the center to build on new technologies to develop the oil sands and clean energy research and thus sustain the oil sands and heavy oil industry.

Imperial Chief Executive Officer Tim Hearn told the Edmonton Journal he hopes the research facility will make the oil sands and heavy oil resources economic even when oil prices fall.

He said Imperial believes the oil sands should be able to survive oil prices of US$20 per barrel, suggesting that prices above US$30 “test the reality and veracity of the market fundamentals.”