Up to 65% of Suncor Energy’s oil production is refined in Canada. That figure framed a stop at the company’s Base Plant in Fort McMurray on June 23, when federal minister Dominic LeBlanc walked through the site on the first day of an Alberta trip.
LeBlanc holds several titles: President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada, and minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Internal Trade and One Canadian Economy. In Fort McMurray he met Suncor’s senior executives, then trade and industry leaders at the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce.
Two cogeneration units
The Base Plant was the first commercial plant to develop the Athabasca oil sands. Its two new cogeneration units have significantly reduced the facility’s emissions while sending power to the grid, according to the government’s readout of the visit. LeBlanc saw them and talked with Suncor’s leadership about how Ottawa can work with Alberta’s energy sector to support its continued growth.
Suncor is headquartered in Alberta and is one of the largest Canadian retailers of petroleum.
Pipeline, carbon capture and the MOU
The minister reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to the recently announced implementation agreement for the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding. The readout says the MOU will unlock Alberta’s natural resources and cement Canada’s standing in clean and conventional energy.
He also acknowledged the importance of the new West Coast Oil pipeline, which would carry low-emission Alberta bitumen and widen access to Asian markets. And he noted that Alberta has committed to work with Ottawa on cutting emissions through the Pathways Project, described as the largest carbon capture, utilization and storage project in the world.
At the Chamber
At the Chamber of Commerce, LeBlanc sat down for a fireside chat with its President, Dianna De Sousa. He spoke about the Canada-Alberta MOU and the work of the Major Projects Office in coordinating federal processes and getting major infrastructure built. He praised Alberta businesses that are pressing for freer movement of goods, services and labour across the country, which would create a more unified domestic market.
The review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement also came up. LeBlanc stressed the need to strengthen Canada-U.S. trade ties and reinforce North American competitiveness.
“In an increasingly uncertain world,” the readout says, the minister underscored that it is more important than ever for Canadians to work together. Albertans, it added, have an important role in building a stronger Canadian economy for all.
