Water Use by Oil and Gas Industry (February 18)
Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The issue of industry water use continues to be a concern.
We still have oil sands production using a minimum of two barrels of water per barrel of oil, and other methods of resource extraction anticipate using more water, not less water. My questions are to the Minister of Environment. How can the minister be certain that the current system is able to handle increasingly water-intensive unconventional oil and gas production?
Mr. Renner: Well, Mr. Speaker, the issue of the use of water is dealt with in two ways. First of all, we have a requirement in place, particularly for injection uses – and the member referred to the new types of oil exploration and industrial work that require water – that they have as first choice and be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that saline water is not available. So that deals with part of it. The other part is that we put maximums on the amount of water that can be withdrawn to protect the integrity of the stream itself.
The Speaker: The hon. member.
Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much. Well, given that some of Alberta’s biggest oil sands producers have said that they would not voluntarily stop pulling water during low-stream flow, is the government going to make compliance compulsory to save our water? It has to be compulsory.
Mr. Renner: Well, Mr. Speaker, the issue here is that the total amount of water that is currently under licence in the Athabasca River is a minute portion of the overall stream flow. What we’re talking about is future users that will come on stream. In that respect we’ve made it very, very clear that the in-stream flow needs of the Athabasca River and virtually any other river in Alberta will have to be recognized before there is industrial use.
The Speaker: The hon. member.
Ms Blakeman: Thank you. Back to the same minister. Some companies are still using fresh water in deep formations for enhanced oil recovery. Will the minister ban this practice?
Mr. Renner: Well, Mr. Speaker, again, it’s not so black and white. It would be nice if it were. The fact of the matter, as I’ve already indicated in the answer to my first question, is that there is a requirement that the primary source of water for these kinds of facilities would be saline water, would be brackish water, would be salt water. There are certain circumstances where there is not access to that source of water, and in those circumstances and those circumstances only they can receive a waiver.
Alberta Hansard, February 18, 2010