New U.S. ambassador visits Fort McMurray

UncleSam

U.S. ambassador visits oilsands       

ASHLEY CREWE

: @' _% m& c7 D2 BFrom Fort McMurray Today

+ w# }4 I$ ~" q( a- b7 LHaving only been sworn in a mere two weeks ago, new U.S. ambassador David Jacobson made a trip up to Fort McMurray to get a first-hand look at the oilsands industry on Wednesday.

Don Thompson, president of the Oil Sands Developers Group, said they organized a tour for the ambassador on behalf of the Alberta government.

“What we did was took an aerial tour of the region, flew over all the mining operations for the region,” he said. “ We showed him an in-situ operation and an open pit mine … 80% of our resource has to be in-situ, so we wanted to make sure he understood the true nature of the industry.”
+ _5 S7 L# a4 o7 S
: z! V# H- Y0 m- m3 X9 TIn-situ means “in place.” Bitumen is extracted from the oilsands generally using some kind of underground thermal process such as steam-assisted gravity drainage, where steam is injected underground to heat up and liquify bitumen which is then pumped to the surface.

$ k' b( ~9 F$ a: R“We actually had a fairly extensive tour,” said Laura Lochman, consul general of the United States of America for Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, who confirmed she and Jacobson were part of a group which made tour stops at both Suncor Energy and Syncrude Canada.
% F$ Y4 B( B$ O" e6 G
' u! ?+ i# ]5 }  |8 x" U“It’s all part of the ambassador’s first step in learning more about the oilsands and for me too, this was my second visit,” she said.
5 M' }! Y& ^- ]$ i2 B2 I* g0 W
. T) ]4 r! X  V! p& s. b1 T* e# zLochman said she and Jacobson had discussions with both companies and the Alberta government, and had a meeting with Fort McKay First Nation’s chief, Jim Boucher.
5 |) A$ g3 d& d2 D1 d
$ p, F" Z, z! I% R2 M+ `“It was important too to get the perspective from his people and how they’ve been involved with the development and what their concerns are,” she said.
9 C+ r2 k+ ~/ M0 y: F. X5 }
The tour began about 9 a.m. and wrapped up around 6 p.m.
  o! R2 ]+ u0 ]/ |, x# `
8 @, [) {1 V  X  F5 P( Y) }“It was a very busy day,” she said. “The ambassador and I are very much in the learning phase right now, and we’re hoping to expand that dialogue. I certainly have already been talking to other interest groups and other stakeholders and the ambassador will be be meeting with others as well.”
* c3 G9 j3 M: n+ P" J4 ]+ Y
Thompson said during the tour they discussed the economic benefits, the manufacturing links to the U.S., the U.S. and Canada energy supply.

0 p5 A7 t3 ]: b) c1 _& ~“And of course,” he added, “we took a lot of time talking about how we’re working to minimize the environmental impact whether it’s greenhouse gas emissions, land reclamation, tailings pond reclamation and then answered many, many questions.”
" F. @# U9 h$ g$ ]2 J9 t/ y0 c
Lochman said that included finding “the balance between development of the resource and the environmental impact.”
) b  v) R! p2 y9 S0 S" n" u( C2 p
8 ]' d; F7 X6 l“Certainly we discussed the fact that the U.S. and Canada are working together to help develop new technologies that will reduce the environmental impact of energy development,” she said, mentioning the clean energy dialogue set up by Prime Minster Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama back in February.
- p1 g( m9 u  n- D+ C8 t' l
“We need to work together to find a solution,” Lochman said.
! j% i9 _! ?0 P( T' ?% r0 `0 n
, Q& I1 t$ e' c6 ?Cheryl Robb, spokeswoman for Syncrude, said with these types of tours, “We focus the conversation around the oilsands and environment but we also discuss the economic benefits that the oilsands bring and the links between the oilsands and the U.S., not only supplying oil but we also utilize materials from the U.S. like some of our trucks.”

Robb said Syncrude has also conducted tours with former American ambassadors including David Wilkins and Paul Cellucci.

Thompson called the oilsands a key asset of Alberta, Canada and North America.

“We’re flattered that very early in his tenure, he chose to come up and become familiar with the oilsands. That really tells people how important Fort McMurray is,” he said.
. d3 j8 }& p% M
“The ambassador is obviously a very intelligent person, I think he listened to what we had to say, and I’m sure he will be able to in his own mind make a better judgement in regards to the balance that exists in the oilsands between energy, the economy and the environment.”
! o8 A- W+ K# ?5 w2 L4 p) d
# y# p+ x+ ~! y" G# FJacobson, who was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Canada on Oct. 2, said earlier this month that he plans to focus on four priorities: trade, energy, the environment and foreign policy. Lochman said in the first six weeks of his tenure, Jacobson plans to visit the 10 provinces with Alberta and Saskatchewan being early priorities.

. ?- I) w. r" y! a( i& D6 I' S“Certainly the energy issue is one that is very important to both Canada and the U.S.,” she said, explaining his tour of the oilsands industry this week was an opportunity to get that first-hand experience.

acrewe@fortmcmurraytoday.com
/ B; C6 e9 L" vArticle ID# 2134154