How we’re doing
RESPONSIBLE CANADIAN ENERGY PROGRESS REPORT
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) recently released its second annual Responsible Canadian Energy Progress Report that details the oil and gas industry’s performance in the areas of people, air, land and water. This report features performance indicators and analysis to address industry performance in western Canada (excluding oil sands), the oil sands and the Atlantic offshore industry. CAPP is also highlighting shale gas development as an emerging issue, including concerns related to water and hydraulic fracturing. CAPP’s Responsible Canadian Energy program is an association-wide performance reporting program based on data reported by CAPP members, annual measurement and analysis of this data, as well as tools and resources for CAPP members to support continuous performance improvement. The program builds on nearly a decade of achievements through our Stewardship initiative, addressing key areas for performance improvement with a renewed focus on transparency and accountability. Our stakeholders and the public must have timely access to credible, objective information about our industry. This report provides an opportunity to demonstrate our progress, to be candid about our challenges and to encourage a collaborative approach in pursuit of solutions. The goal of Canada’s oil and gas industry is continuous improvement of environmental, social and safety performance. Increasing transparency and public understanding of social and environmental performance is important to Canada’s oil and gas industry, as it is to Canadians. Performance data from 2010 shows improvements in overall water use, safety, and air emissions. The report also identifies specific areas where more work is needed to improve performance, such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and water reuse in shale gas development. We are proud of industry’s overall track record and our commitment to continuous performance improvement. But there are areas where we are not performing as well and we need to live by the adage that “good is not good enough” and strive for ongoing performance improvement across all of our key performance metrics. Technology and innovation will be a key driver in this regard, as will collaboration on technology development among industry, governments, research institutions and other stakeholders. We believe responsibly developed and consumed crude oil and natural gas will continue to play a foundational role in Canada’s and the world’s energy mix for many decades to come. Canada’s oil and gas industry is committed to delivering this energy to Canada and the world in a responsible way, every day. This latest Responsible Canadian Energy Progress Report is comprised of two components: a printed report that contains the highlights of our industry’s performance in 2010, and a projectspecific website that provides more comprehensive industry performance data. Our objective is to ensure our performance reporting is both credible and transparent. To that end, an independent advisory group comprised of respected leaders representing academia/research, communities, contractors, investors, government/regulators, non-government organizations, labour and business reviewed and commented on the report.
The goal of Canada’s oil and gas industry is continuous improvement of environmental, social and safety performance. Increasing transparency and public understanding of social and environmental performance is important to Canada’s oil and gas industry, as it is to Canadians.
Here are the highlights of the most recent report:
People The five-year trend for national Total Recordable Injury Frequency (TRIF) shows that total (employees and contractors) reported injury rates have decreased since 2006, with TRIF declining from 1.48 in 2006 to 0.89 in 2010. Reported data shows a slight increase in TRIF in 2010 from 2009 levels. The oil and gas industry is focused on ongoing reduction in injury rates for our employees and contractors. We are working with Enform, the industry safety association, to develop and implement improvements in safety management systems, training and reporting in order to realize ongoing improvements in worker safety. In 2010, CAPP member companies recorded seven fatalities, as compared to 24 fatalities in 2009. This reduction in fatalities is encouraging but just one remains far too many. The loss of any life is tragic and increases the industry’s resolve to reduce fatalities to zero.
Air Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are primarily related to fuel consumption – both stationary-fired equipment and mine fleet vehicles. Additional energy requirements in near depleted reservoirs and in unconventional production result in more emissions-intensive production. Western Canada’s oil and gas production has the highest NOx emissions intensity within the industry. However, 2010 was the third consecutive year that NOx intensity declined for production in western Canada, falling six per cent from 2009. There has also been a decline in NOx emissions intensity for oil sands with 2010 NOx emissions intensities decreasing by seven per cent. In both cases, the decreases are largely related to performance improvements such as fuel gas efficiency improvements and better combustion technology. Another factor influencing the downward trend for western Canada emissions intensity is declining natural gas production volumes, which is in turn lowering levels of fuel combustion required for pipeline compression, and thus, NOx emissions. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is primarily emitted in sour gas processing and bitumen upgrading operations. Oil sands production has the highest SO2 emissions per barrel of production due to the high sulphur content in raw bitumen. However, the oil sands industry was able to reduce SO2 intensity by 23 per cent in 2010