Alberta oil industry standards lauded in Quebec

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Alberta has set the benchmark for coexistence of farmland and oil and gas wells, says the head of an energy industry group from Quebec.

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Mario Levesque, president of the Oil and Gas Services Association of Quebec (OGSAQ), which this week brought a group of rural Quebec residents to Alberta, said the tour was meant to show how the energy industry here works.

?My goal was to bring people who had questions about oil and gas,? said Levesque, whose group chose at random a handful of people ? mostly farmers ? who applied to go on the Alberta tour, subsidized by Questerre Energy and the Canadian Association of Petroleum producers (CAPP).

Two small town mayors were among the dozen people who came, though they paid their own way, said Levesque.

Group members hailed from the St. Lawrence Lowlands region of Quebec, an area eyed for future oil and gas development, much to the dismay of some residents there.

Their concerns include water contamination, pollution, respect for the environment and big companies reaping the benefits of development.

During a three-day stint in Alberta that wrapped Wednesday, the group visited farms around Rosemary, about 170 km southeast of Calgary, went to Grande Prairie, and met with the Energy Resource Conservation Board (ERCB) and the Surface Rights Board.

?I know for a fact the best people in the world to drill inland are in Alberta,? said Levesque.

?You have the highest standards in the world.?

He said while the group still included some critics post tour, other members were surprised by ?how small of an impact? the industry had on the land.

The combined efforts of Canada?s east and west can make the country the world?s top energy superpower, added Levesque.

Mark Salkeld, president of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada, said he was glad for the opportunity for farmers from Alberta and Quebec to meet one on one.

?The conversations, I felt, were very productive ? a lot of information back and forth between the groups,? he said.

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Source: http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/07/19/alberta-oil-industry-standards-lauded-in-quebec

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