Stelmach gives U.S. senators tour of oil sands

Senator Lindsey Graham heads influential delegation’s visit

Premier Ed Stelmach led three influential U.S. Senators on a full-day tour of the oil sands in Fort McMurray on September 17.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss and North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan participated in the event, which included visits to Syncrude’s oil sands facility, including its land reclamation projects, and Nexen’s Long Lake in situ project and upgrader. The visit also included briefings from industry and government officials.

“Experiencing oil sands development first-hand helped reinforce our message that Alberta is committed to responsible energy production,” said Stelmach. “The visit went exceedingly well. We were able to see a lot and share a great deal of information about both oil sands mining and in situ development, all while demonstrating our commitment to environmental responsibility.”

"I’m very excited that our good friends in Canada have an oil supply that can help fuel our nation for years to come," said Senator Graham. "I’m also very impressed with the environmental sensitivities and full speed ahead when it comes to oil sands development."

This is the latest activity in the continued effort to inform American legislators and others about the province’s responsible energy development and role in economic and energy security. Most recently, the Premier met with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss energy security, the economy and oil sands development. Also, a group of American state legislators visited the oil sands as part of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region Summer Summit this July.

Alberta plays a critical role to U.S. energy security as the largest supplier of both non-domestic natural gas and crude oil to the U.S., supplying almost one-half of that country’s imported natural gas and 17 per cent of imported crude. Approximately 6-billion cubic feet of Alberta natural gas and 1.5-million barrels of Alberta oil are exported to the U.S. every day.