Keep in mind: Nexen waste burning "co-generation" will create up to EIGHT TIMES the C02 and other greenhouse gas emissions footprint of a regular pump jack.
--M
Long Lake partners praised for efforts
Calgary Herald
October 26, 2008
All but 10 per cent of the water is to be recycled. The project will have ponds, but not giant tailings ponds like those at mining projects such as Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy and Shell's Athabasca Oil Sands Project.
[it has been decades since Suncor and Syncrude began. 10% will still add up quickly, especially with production targets into the stratosphere]
The project is designed to be expanded in phases, eventually tapping a resource estimated at six billion barrels of bitumen on three leases.
Sid Dykstra, president and chief executive of the operating company, OPTI Canada Inc. of Calgary, said the plant represents several "step changes."
"At Long Lake, we'll produce the highest quality synthetic crude to come from the oilsands," Dykstra said. "This makes it highly attractive to a wide range of refineries and, as a result, we expect to receive a premium price."
He said the plant is the first large-scale SAGD project with on-site upgrading, the largest single-phase SAGD development in the world and has the largest single-train air separation unit in the world.
[all of which is powered by burning the waste gunk; this produces astronomical levels of C02 and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions]
Charlie Fischer, president and chief executive of Nexen Inc., touted the environmental benefits of the Long Lake project's technology. [sic]
"By incorporating gasification into our process, we are developing technology that will enable us to capture CO2, pre-combustion. This will significantly contribute to the capture of carbon in the future."
[The above listed technology doesn't exist yet]
Last Monday, the developers of Long Lake said a decision on twinning the project would be delayed until next year.
[financial crash undermines tar sands]
On Thursday, Suncor announced it would cut capital spending and slow down the pace by a year of its 200,000-barrel-per-day, $20.6-billion Voyageur expansion.
On the same day, UTS Energy Corp. announced the upgrader portion of the Fort Hills oilsands mining project will likely be scrapped.
Last month, its partner Petro-Canada said the estimated cost of the project had climbed to $20.1 billion, casting doubts on the project's viability.
Meanwhile, Total and StatoilHydro have announced delays to the upgrading portions of their respective integrated operations, while homegrown Northwest Upgrading is delaying its project and BA Energy has put its plans on the back burner.
Melissa Blake, mayor of the Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray and the Long Lake site, 40 kilometres to the southeast, welcomed a slowdown in the pace of what was $80 billion to $125 billion worth of proposed development over the next five years.
"In terms of the municipality, I'm probably one of the few who would say it's a bit of a relief to have a slowdown because it gives us time to catch up," Blake said.
"In terms of the operators that are here, the ones on the ground are not going anywhere."
Blake said last year's census indicated there were 65,000 people in Fort McMurray proper and 89,000 including the region -- of that, 18,500 were living in oilsands workcamps.
She said Long Lake stands out from some other projects in its commitment to hire local people and sponsor community needs through initiatives such as the donation of $2.5 million to local schools.
"They have a laudable corporate philosophy. Where many are able to say, 'We're so far removed from the urban hub that housing is challenge, etc., we might even do a fly-in, fly-out for permanent positions,' OPTI has conscientiously said, 'We want our people in the community.'
"So we not only get their employees, but we get their families and all the spinoff positive things that come from a growing community that way."
Reached after the opening, Janvier said his people's traditional way of life is being overturned by the runaway development of oilsands.
"If everyone gets their approvals and their programs the way they want it, we're going to have a huge plant every few miles in all of our country, which will totally destroy our lands as we know it," he said, explaining why he opposes MEG's Phase 3 project at Christina Lake, about 80 kilometres south of Long Lake.
OPTI-Nexen is part of the overall problem, but it's a more palatable part, Janvier explained.
"The Long Lake project has made a solid effort to engage the neighbouring First Nation communities. . . . They've employed our people, provided training opportunities and established successful partnerships with aboriginal businesses."
dhealing@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2008
