The Alberta oil sands are one of the world’s largest oil resources, with an estimated 176 billion barrels of recoverable bitumen. Petro-Canada is a leading player in the oil sands, with an estimated 10 billion barrels of resource, more than all the conventional oil in Alberta. As conventional basins decline, developing the oil sands is key to keeping up with the growing global demand for cost-effective and secure energy.
Petro-Canada owns and operates the MacKay River in situ facility, where steam separates sand from oil underground. We are planning on expanding operations at MacKay River to leverage this great reservoir. Petro-Canada has a 60% interest in the Fort Hills mine and the Fort Hills Sturgeon Upgrader. Petro-Canada Oil Sands Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Petro-Canada, is the contract operator for the Fort Hills Oil Sands project. Responding to the demand with production growth creates one of our biggest challenges; growth increases our emissions and the size of our footprint on the ecosystems of the region.
We’re going to be a guest in this region for several decades. It’s important to develop our projects responsibly - that is, in a holistic manner, with plans that factor environmental costs and wins right alongside financial metrics.
Be Part of the Solution
Whether it be designing the upgrader or detailing our reclamation plan, our commitment is to be part of the solution — implementing innovative solutions to reduce our environmental impact, while maximizing benefits for all stakeholders.
Petro-Canada recognizes the valid concerns that our stakeholders have about oil sands development and that they are asking questions about how we plan to address some key issues. In this section of the website, we share some of our greatest successes and our challenges. We also highlight areas where we’re working with government and other stakeholders to do more. We will continue to update this content as we move forward with Fort Hills and our other Oil Sands developments.
Find out how we’re being part of the environmental solution through these programs: