Alberta Oil Research Articles

Conflicting Interests: Development Politics and the Environmental Regulation of the Alberta Oil Sands Industry, 1970–1980

Abstract This article examines the relationship between development politics and environmental regulation and research during the first commercial development phase of the oil sands industry. As demand for oil grew after the Second World War, and oil supplies from the Middle East became less stable, oil companies began building facilities to produce synthetic oil from the bitumen deposits in north-eastern Alberta. The commercialisation of the oil sands industry coincided with the formalisation of environmental policy at both the provincial and federal levels. When the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Premier Peter Lougheed, formed a government after winning the 1971 election, it strengthened and expanded the scope of environmental regulation into the mid-1970s. The 1973 oil crisis changed the economic viability and importance of the oil sands industry. For Lougheed, the oil sands industry became a cornerstone of the PC government's goals to diversify the Alberta economy. To save the Syncrude project after Atlantic Richfield withdrew its thirty per cent stake in the consortium in December 1974, the Alberta government bought a ten per cent position along with the federal government and Ontario. This article argues that investing in the oil sands industry created a conflict of interest for the Alberta government, as it became both the regulator and the developer of the resource. Using a range of archival sources and oral history, it shows how Alberta's environmental policies and research programmes were sidelined by the Lougheed government in the latter half of the 1970s, culminating in the cancellation of the Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program in 1980. The marginalisation of environmental regulation and research has contributed to the environmental impacts of the oil sands industry on ecosystems and Indigenous communities, and limited public awareness of environmental change.

Toxicity of Weathered Sediment-Bound Dilbit to Early Life Stages of Zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Due to high viscosity, bitumen extracted from the Alberta oil sands is diluted with natural gas condensates to form diluted bitumen (dilbit) to facilitate transport through pipelines. Dilbit that is spilled into or near a waterbody is subject to environmental weathering processes such as evaporation and interaction with sediments. This is the first study that assessed the toxicity of weathered sediment-bound dilbit (WSD) to fish early life stages. Exposure of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos to water-soluble fractions (WSFs) or water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of WSD from 30 min to 120 h postfertilization resulted in pericardial edema, yolk sac edema, and incidences of uninflated swim bladder. The presence of oil-mineral aggregates (OMAs) in the WAFs greatly increased toxicity, despite all fractions having similar concentrations of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). There were greater cyp1a mRNA abundances in larvae exposed to WAFs, suggesting that there were differences in bioavailability of PAHs between fractions. However, there was little evidence that embryotoxicity was caused by oxidative stress. Results suggest that evaporation and sediment interaction do not completely attenuate toxicity of dilbit to zebrafish early life stages, and OMAs in exposures exacerbate toxicity.

Green Gaps: Firm ESG Disclosure and Financial Institutions’ Reporting Requirements

Background: Globally, governments are responding to climate change. The financial industry has followed, integrating climate risk to their investment decisions via Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. Firms in environmentally sensitive industries, like oil and gas, are notably scrutinized for their ESG performance especially regarding climate change. Methods: Two samples were selected for a content analysis and comparison of environmental disclosure and investor requirements. The first sample is comprised of the sustainability reports for 30 oil and gas firms operating within Alberta. The second sample includes the ESG reports of 19 financial institutions with investment in the oil and gas industry. This data was triangulated via fieldnotes from conferences and informal discussions with oil and gas and financial industry representatives. Results: We find that both ESG investor requirements and firm disclosures suffer from a lack of standardization. Consequently, the financial industry is moving toward the adoption of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) recommendations and the SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) framework in firm evaluations. European financial institutions have been leading the way in requiring firms to define their climate risk, set targets, measure performance, show improvement, and connect to strategy. Alberta oil and gas companies are responding with more robust ESG disclosure, though SASB and TCFD reporting is not yet widespread. Conclusions: Industry failure to respond to evolving disclosure requirements can lead to divestment. We contend that oil and gas companies that do not acknowledge climate risk and outline energy transition strategies tied to their business models and reputations potentially sacrifice access to capital. We expect firm ESG disclosure, especially radical transparency on environment, to increase as financial institutions execute on climate change risk evaluations. We contribute to the sustainability reporting and ESG literature by showing the impact of investors as stakeholders in effecting change to oil and gas firm level environmental disclosure.

Addressing competitiveness of emissions-intensive and trade-exposed sectors: a review of Alberta's carbon pricing system

In 2018, the Canadian province of Alberta introduced a revamped carbon pricing regime – the Carbon Competitiveness Incentives Regulation (CCIR) – for large industrial emitters. This regulation set product benchmark emissions intensities and required that facilities purchase emissions credits for the portion of emissions that fell above that product benchmark. With a focus on Alberta's oil and gas industry, this paper assesses mechanisms used under the CCIR to address competitiveness-driven carbon leakage for emissions-intensive and trade-exposed sectors. These mechanisms include exclusions, output-based allocations and financial compensation in the form of market-based compliance flexibility and access to innovation funding. The CCIR also provided additional cost containment for facilities that demonstrated significant economic risk resulting from carbon compliance costs. The output-based allocation, which is the primary policy mechanism for addressing competitiveness, is compared with the carbon pricing system in California. This review suggests that the CCIR failed to provide evidence that emission allocation levels were sufficient to mitigate carbon leakage. Further, the system's definition of competitiveness failed to incorporate the ability to attract new investment, which is particularly important for the oil and gas sector due to its capital-intensive nature. Understanding policy options for protecting industry competitiveness from carbon pricing may help to inform future regulatory design that mitigates the likelihood of carbon leakage.

Production Controls in North American Heavy Oil and Bitumen Markets

In January 2019, the Canadian province of Alberta enacted limits on crude oil and bitumen production. These production controls, a policy referred as the curtailment, represent a shift for a government that historically avoided market intervention. Designed to shrink a growing and prolonged price di erential between theWestern Canadian Select price of oil, the key benchmark for Alberta's heavy oil production, and theWest Texas Intermediate benchmark, the curtailment created arti cial scarcity, shrinking the price di erential from more than $40 USD per barrel in November 2018 to less than $15 USD per barrel in February 2019. In the process, this policy transferred market surplus from re ners, mainly those in the US Midwest, to producers in Alberta. We review this large-scale market intervention and calculate the magnitude of the economic transfer. We nd that the curtailment increased producer surplus by $659M CAD per month and reduced consumer surplus by $763M per month. At the margin, every $1 reduction in consumer surplus translated into a $0.71 gain in producer surplus. We further show that if the Government of Alberta's objective was to maximize short-run producer surplus, it should further scale back production, setting the curtailment rate at 25%, rather than the initial 8.7%.

The Gas/Bitumen Dispute: The Clash of Fact, Technology, Policy and Law

This article examines the conflict between gas production and the preservation of bitumen resources in Alberta's oil sands area. After providing a synopsis of the relevant technical and legal issues facing the industry, the authors then focus on the clash of factual, technological, legal and policy issues facing both regulators and industry in the gas/bitumen dispute. The authors then conclude with an analysis of the current status and future of the gas/bitumen dispute.

Fugitive emissions of polycyclic aromatic compounds from an oil sands tailings pond based on fugacity and inverse dispersion flux calculations.

Alberta's oil sands tailings ponds are suspected to be a source of fugitive emissions of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) to the atmosphere. Here we report, for the first time, fluxes of 6 parent and 21 alkylated PACs based on the measured co-located air and water concentrations using a two-film fugacity-based model (FUG), an inverse dispersion model (DISP) and a simple box model (BOX). Air samples were collected at the Suncor Tailings Pond 2/3 using a high volume air sampler from the "pond" and towards the pond ("non-pond") directions separately. Mean ∑27PACs in air from the "pond" direction was greater than the "non-pond" direction by a factor of 17. Water-air fugacity ratio of 20PACs quantifiable in water indicated net volatilization from water. Dispersion and box model results also indicated upward fluxes of 22PACs. Correlation between the estimated flux results of BOX and DISP model was statistically significant (r=0.99 and p<0.05), and correlation between FUG and DISP results ranged from 0.54 to 0.85. In this first-ever assessment of PAC fluxes from tailings pond, the three models confirmed volatilization fluxes of PACs indicating Suncor Tailings Pond 2/3 is a source of PAC emissions to the atmosphere. This study addressed a key data gap identified in the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring Emissions Inventory Compilation Report (Government of Alberta and Canada, 2016) which is the lack of consistent real-world tailings pond fugitive emission monitoring of organic chemicals. Our findings highlight the need for measurements from other tailings ponds to determine their overall contribution in releasing PACs to the atmosphere. This paper presents a practical method for estimating PAC emissions from other tailings ponds, which can provide a better understanding of these fugitive emissions, and thereby help to improve the overall characterization of emissions in the oil sands region.

The Gut Microbial Community Structure of the North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) in the Alberta Oil Sands Region in Canada: Relationship with Local Environmental Variables and Metal Body Burden

The Alberta Oil Sands Region in Canada is home to one of the largest oil bitumen deposits in the world. The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is a top predator with a small home range and is sensitive to disturbances; it has been designated as a sentinel species for the potential impacts of the natural resource exploitation on freshwater ecosystems in the Alberta Oil Sands Region. With an increasing interest in noninvasive biomarkers, recent studies suggest that gut microbiota can be used as a potential biomarker of early biological effects on aquatic wildlife. The goal of the present study was to determine the river otter gut microbial structure related to environmental variables characterizing mining activities and metal body burden. We obtained 18 trapped animals from and surrounding the surface mineable area of the Alberta Oil Sands Region. The gut microbial community structure was characterized using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicon analyses. Trace metal concentrations in the liver were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Our study revealed that the gut bacteria of river otters in the Alberta Oil Sands Region clustered in 4 groups dominated by Peptostreptococcaceae, Carnobacteriaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Clostridiaceae, and Nostocaceae. We show that arsenic, barium, rubidium, liver-body weight ratio, and δ15 N were associated with each cluster. When comparing affected versus less affected sites, we show that river otter gut bacterial community and structure are significantly related to trophic level of the river otter but not to Alberta Oil Sands Region mining activities. Our study reveals that the gut bacterial dynamics can provide insights into the diet and habitat use of river otters but that more work is needed to use it as a pollution biomarker. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:2516-2526. © 2020 SETAC.

A heat‐transfer model for tube fouling in the radiant section of once‐through steam generators

AbstractOnce‐through steam generators (OTSGs) produce steam by recycling produced water in the steam‐assisted‐gravity‐drainage (SAGD) process for extracting Alberta's oil sands via in situ recovery of bitumen. The industry's specifications for water quality, steam quality, and water recycle ratio, as well as high temperature and pressure operations, lead to the fouling of OTSG tubes, which has important economic, safety, and environmental consequences. The roles and mechanisms of inorganic and organic impurities on tube fouling also complicate the study of heat transfer in OTSGs. Heat transfer in OTSGs involves radiation, convection, conduction, forced convection, and boiling. In this investigation on OTSG fouling, a steady‐state mathematical model was built in Microsoft Excel, incorporating industry design data, to demonstrate the impact of tube fouling on heat transfer and tube‐wall temperature. The model predictions indicate that tube fouling introduces a significant thermal resistance that not only decreases the rate of heat transfer but also causes an increase in the tube‐wall temperature such that it could exceed the safe operating limits of the tube material, leading to potential tube failures. Predictions are provided for the average tube‐wall temperature exceeding the recommended operating limit of 700 K over a range of foulant thermal conductivity (ie, 0.05‐2 W m−1 K−1) and foulant thickness (ie, 0.4‐11 mm corresponding to 0.1%‐30% of the tube radius).

Fugitive methane gas migration around Alberta's petroleum wells

AbstractMethane emission quantification from gas migration (GM) and surface casing vent flow (SCVF) is needed to support strategic methane reduction targets and mitigate explosion and groundwater quality risks. This paper assessed which of 451 990 Alberta oil and gas wells should have been (or will be) tested for SCVF and/or GM according to regulations, and compared the results with the provincial GM testing database. As of 2017, GM testing was required on 3.5%, and reported for 0.75%, of Alberta’s energy wells. Similarly, SCVF testing was required on 58.2%, and reported for 6.2%, of all wells. An estimated 14.5% of all wells were legally abandoned before GM and SCVF testing regulations existed. All of the remaining wells will require SCVF testing prior to legal abandonment, and an estimated 32.9% to 75.5% of the total will not require GM testing before abandonment based on current regulations. The cumulative number of ‘serious’ GM reports that have remained open since submission has continuously been increasing each year, which contradicts the requirement for repair within 90 days, suggesting regulations are not enforced. The GM testing procedure is inadequate for quantitative testing. We conclude that fugitive methane emissions, and in particular gas migration, are not well constrained in Alberta. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Investigating the mechanism of vanadium toxicity in freshwater organisms

Vanadium (V) could present a risk for aquatic organisms from the Alberta oil sands region, if present in high concentrations. An industry pilot project has used petroleum coke (PC) as a sorbent to remove organic toxicants from oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), but it also caused V to leach from PC into the OSPW, reaching concentrations of up to 7 mg V/L (a level known to be toxic to aquatic organisms). Vanadium is a transition metal with several oxidation states, which could potentially elicit its toxicity through either ion imbalance or oxidative stress. This study investigated the effect of V on Daphnia magna and Oncorhynchus mykiss. Daphinds and O. mykiss were exposed to concentrations of V up to their respective calculated median lethal concentration (LC50): 3 mg V/L for D. magna and 7 mg V/L for O. mykiss. For both organisms, the influence of V on sodium flux and whole body sodium was evaluated. Its effect on whole body calcium and the oxidative stress responses in O. mykiss at the gill and liver levels was also studied. Results suggested that 3.1 mg V/L for D. magna and 6.8 mg V/L for O. mykiss caused an overall increase in sodium influx in both the daphnids and rainbow trout. However, concentrations of V ranging between 0.2 and 4 mg V/L for D. magna and 1.8 and 6 mg V/L for O. mykiss reduced whole body sodium in both organisms and whole body calcium in O. mykiss. Concentrations above 3.6 mg V/L caused significant lipid peroxidation in the gills and liver of rainbow trout, while 1.9 mg V/L produced a substantial decrease in the fish gill GSH:GSSG ratio, but no change in the ratio between these thiols in the liver. Concentrations of 6.62 mg V/L sharply increased catalase activity in the liver but not in the gills. Neither liver nor gill superoxide dismutase was altered by V. Overall, results suggest that both ion imbalance and oxidative stress are part of the mechanism of toxicity of V in D. magna and O. mykiss and that further research is warranted to fully elucidate the mechanism(s) of V toxicity in aquatic organisms.

Estimation of land-use/land-cover changes associated with energy footprints and other disturbance agents in the Upper Peace Region of Alberta Canada from 1985 to 2015 using Landsat data

Quantification of Land‐Use and Land‐Cover (LULC) changes associated with energy extraction footprints plays an important role in reclamation performance assessment, compliance monitoring, and sustainable land management practices. For regulatory planning and decision making purposes, it is crucial to understand the types and representation of disturbance present on the landscape related to energy footprints (i.e., oil, gas, and coal mining activities), non-energy footprints (i.e., other infrastructure), cutblocks, and wildfire. In this study, Landsat multispectral datasets were analysed using advanced classification and unmixing algorithms to calculate LULC changes associated with these disturbance agents from 1985 to 2015 in the Upper Peace Region, one of the major oil and gas exploration sites in Alberta, Canada. Based on 5-year intervals throughout this 30-year study, seven epochal LULC maps and a cumulative land disturbance map were produced with 82 % and 89 % overall accuracies, respectively, based on extensive and multisource, independent validation. Assessment of multiple disturbance regimes and time-series trajectories with high accuracies in this complex environment was vital to document and quantify disturbance, vegetation re-establishment, succession, and reclamation. Results indicate that more than 60 % forest loss (coniferous and deciduous) occurred due to harvesting and less than 20 % forest loss occurred due to energy and non‐energy footprints. An assessment of the current state showed 40–60 % of cutblocks and burned areas returned as immature forest and wetland and 15–20 % recovered to forest, accounting for successional processes that take time for the re-establishment of trees following disturbance. Out of total energy footprints, 8 % recovered as shrubland and 16 % recovered as forest, with almost no sign of vegetation recovery evident in non‐energy footprints (e.g., urban and long term industrial land use). The highest area of land disturbance (3412 km2) was over coniferous forest with 5-year disturbance areas of 55 km2, 65 km2, 70 km2, and 295 km2, associated with, respectively, wildfire, energy development, non‐energy footprints, and harvesting. This type of LULC investigation informs land‐use threshold management for energy footprints by identifying and partitioning key disturbance agents into land use. Knowledge of change type and land use enables insights on long term implications of the changes present and serves to guide sustainable development, environmental protection, and informing forward looking land use future state simulations.

Concentrations of Metals in Fishes from the Athabasca and Slave Rivers of Northern Canada.

There is growing concern about possible effects of exploitation of the Alberta Oil Sands on the ambient environment, including possible effects on populations of fishes in the Athabasca River and farther downstream in Lake Athabasca and the Slave River. In the present study, concentrations of metals in dorsal muscle tissue of 5 fish species-goldeye, northern pike, walleye, whitefish, and burbot-from the Slave, Peace, and Athabasca Rivers were quantified. A suite of 25 metals including As, Hg, Se, Tl, and V was analyzed. Most metals exhibited no significant variations in concentration among locations. Concentrations of 5 metals, As, Hg, Se, Tl, and V, revealed significant variations among locations and were of sufficient magnitude to be of interest. Concentrations of Hg did not vary significantly among locations; however, because it was detected at concentrations of concern and the use of the selected fishes was a local source of food for humans and pets, it was of interest. Concentrations of As, Se, Tl, and V in dorsal muscle of certain fishes in the farthest downstream sites on the Slave River were greater than those in the same tissues and species in the farther upstream sites on the Peace and Athabasca Rivers. This phenomenon was most prevalent with Tl and to a lesser extent with As and Se. Nevertheless, concentrations were not of concern for the health of human consumers. Although metals did not appear to be increased in fish in the Alberta Oil Sands region in the present study, further research is needed to understand the potential impacts. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:2180-2195. © 2020 SETAC.

Comparison of performance-based specification properties for asphalt binders sourced from around the world

This paper documents and discusses performance-based specification properties of 36 asphalt binders. Materials were obtained from commercial sources and purposely distilled from Alberta oil sands crude oils (Athabasca, Cold Lake). Binders were evaluated according to regular Superpave™ specifications, Fraass test, and enhanced protocols based on limiting phase angles and complex moduli. From an overall performance perspective, sol-type binders made from Athabasca and Cold Lake, Alberta and Laguna, Venezuela crudes outperform gel-type ones made from Chinese, Indian, Kuwaiti, Russian, and South Korean sources. Good amounts of asphaltenes together with low wax contents appear to be critical for the production of high quality and durable asphalt binders.

Early boreal forest understory plant community development in reclaimed oil sands

The understory is an important reservoir of plant biodiversity and a driver of ecological processes in Canada's boreal forest, making its re-establishment following reclamation of oil sands mines crucial. This study examined understory plant community development with time using two cover soil types (forest floor mineral mix (FMM) and peat mineral mix (PMM)) in Alberta oil sands reclamation sites. Cover soil type played a significant role in plant community development with FMM soil having greater species richness, diversity and total vegetation cover than PMM four years after reclamation. Nonmetric multi dimensional scaling and multi response permutation procedure revealed no compositional differences between the cover soil types. Indicator species analysis showed FMM cover soil was dominated by perennial species while PMM was dominated by annual forb species. This implies that FMM cover soil leads to faster vegetation recovery (from ruderal and annual communities to perennial communities) than PMM cover soil. Non-native species declined with time in FMM (7.5–4%) and increased in PMM (8.9–12.5%). We therefore recommend utilizing FMM as cover soil to promote productive and diverse understory plant communities on the reclaimed landscape.

Baseline white sucker health and reproductive endpoints for use in assessment of further development in the alberta oil sands

Baseline white sucker health and reproductive endpoints for use in assessment of further development in the alberta oil sands

Paradox Intensification: Navigating Coopetition in Industry-Wide Alliance Formation

Organizations increasingly collaborate with competitors to advance technology, build industry ecosystems and address grand challenges. However, the tensions between cooperation and competition foster ongoing challenges that thwart the success of these important initiatives. We offer new insights to unpack the nature and management of coopetition challenges by applying paradox theory to rich data from the formation of a cooperative alliance addressing industry threats by environmental activists in one of the most competitive industries, the Alberta oil sands. Our in-depth analysis of the formation of this industry alliance over three years reveals a model of paradox intensification. Whereas scholars have described how challenges of navigating such paradoxical tensions diminish over time, we find the opposite. As the collaboration grew in scale and in specificity, the tensions between collaborating and competing grew in quantity and challenge. We find that in addition to requiring formal structures, effectively addressing such intensifying paradoxical tensions required informal interactions by individuals, who we describe as champions, who built the alliance through fostering personal relationships and trust. This model of paradoxical intensification advances the growing literature on the paradoxes of coopetition by unpacking the challenges and responses to navigating the tensions between cooperation and competition over time.

Waste Containment Ponds Are a Major Source of Secondary Organic Aerosol Precursors from Oil Sands Operations.

The surface mining and bitumen extraction of oil sands (OS) generates over one million barrels of heavy oil each day in the Alberta Oil Sands Region of Canada. Recent observations suggest that emissions from OS development contribute to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, but the chemical composition, mass fluxes, and sources of those emissions are poorly delineated. Here, we simulated OS extraction and used comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography to quantify and characterize direct air emissions, bitumen froth, residual wastewater, and tailings components, ultimately enabling fate modeling of over 1500 chromatographic features simultaneously. During the non-ice cover season, tailings ponds emissions contributed 15 000-72 000 metric tonnes of hydrocarbon SOA precursors, translating to 3000-13 000 tonnes of SOA, whereas direct emissions during the extraction process itself were notably smaller (960 ± 500 tonnes SOA yr-1). These results suggest that tailings pond waste management practices should be targeted to reduce environmental emissions.

Effect of Carbon Dioxide on Asphaltene Precipitation from Bitumen–Heptane Mixtures

Bitumen froth generated from water-based extraction of Alberta oil sands typically consists of 60 wt % bitumen, 30 wt % water, and 10 wt % mineral solids. The froth has to be cleaned by removing th...

Social Networks and Climate Change Policy Preferences: Structural Location and Policy Actor Support for Fossil Fuel Production

Contrary to what is needed for reducing global GHG emissions, successive Canadian governments have placed fossil fuel production at the core of national economic development. This presents a puzzle: how should we understand contradictory political commitments to the Paris agreement and low carbon energy futures, on one hand, and the persistence of support for fossil fuel centered energy futures, on the other hand. Using a policy network perspective, we ask: Is the location of actors within a climate change policy network associated with their position on curtailing the Alberta oil sands development? Results show that actors’ social network positions are associated with their support for curtailing oil sands development. This network association persists even when the sectoral affiliation and climate change beliefs of actors are statistically controlled. Our results demonstrate that policy network analysis helps explain the persistence of the contradictory politics of fossil fuel development and support for decarbonization.