Energy Committee Says Canada Must Clean Up its Oil Sector

A new report by the Energy Committee of the Canadian Senate, has stated that the country must do more to persuade the world that it is developing its oil resources responsibly in terms of the environmental impact.

The companies working in the oil sands must improve their environmental performance, and Canada must work to reduce “greenhouse gas emissions on a national scale.”

Canada’s oil sands contain an estimated 170 billion barrels of oil, making them the third largest proven reserves in the world. The Canadian government wants to increase production in order to turn the country into an energy superpower, and a major oil exporter; however, carbon emissions continue to grow as oil production increases.

Last year Canada pulled out of the Kyoto protocol and set itself much lighter emission targets, but increasing production in the dirty oil sands means that it may not even meet these lower targets.

David Angus, head of the Senate's energy committee, admitted that Canada is in an enviable position, but that it “is at great risk and to stay in this position a lot of things are going to have to change. Canada has been portrayed as the bad guy when it comes to energy and the environment. It's kind of depressing ... What we want to do is have the Canadian brand celebrated and so we've got to clean up our act.”

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com