Home » News » Libyan chaos ups the importance of Alberta oilsands: British envoy
News
Libyan chaos ups the importance of Alberta oilsands: British envoy
News Articles Featured | Canadian Press | March 02, 2011
Read the full article on the originating site
OTTAWA – Chaos in Libya will raise the strategic importance of Alberta’s oilsands, but that shouldn’t stop energy companies from making a more environmentally friendly product, says Britain’s envoy to Canada.
British High Commissioner Andrew Pocock said the crisis in Libya will affect Alberta energy producers.
Much of Libya’s oil and gas production has been shut down, as security forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi wage a fierce battle against opposition fighters for control of the country’s lucrative oil fields. The turmoil has kept oil prices above $100 a barrel.
“Resources like the oilsands will become more strategically important,” Pocock told The Canadian Press on Wednesday. He said, though, that the crisis illustrates the pressing need to find more sustainable, low-carbon energy alternatives.
“The oil-security dimension now has to be part of the equation with the oilsands,” said Pocock, who became Britain’s top diplomat in Canada two months ago.
“I think the question for all now is how they can be best and most environmentally, securely exploited. That is partly a technology issue, it’s partly a management issue — how you reduce the use of water, how you secure tailings dams, etc…”
Pocock will continue his government’s advocacy of green technology development, greenhouse gas reductions and climate security policy — a brand of public diplomacy that has annoyed Canada’s Conservative government.
Pocock canvassed British oil executives before coming to Canada.
“The industry itself recognizes that to maintain its image in the global marketplace it needs not only to respond to environmental concerns, but to be seen to be doing so.”
Pocock said he will visit the Alberta oilsands next week to see first-hand how exploration is affecting the environment.
“I’m interested myself to go out and see where that balance is. I suspect it’s a moving target, that people will be putting more time and effort into the environmental dimension because they have to.”
He said the oilsands have been well served by the growing demand of the United States for secure sources of energy.
Tagged with: oil prices, libya
