Hamilton, Ontario (Platts)--15Oct2009/556 am EDT/956 GMT

Canadian Oil Sands Trust head Marcel Coutu, has come out fighting against activists at home and abroad who claim that the country's oil sands are a "dirty" energy source.

Coutu, who is also the chairman of Syncrude, in which COST is the major stakeholder, acknowledged that while the oil sands account for some 5% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, or GHG emissions, that amounted to less than 1% of global GHGs. Moreover, the industry had cut its GHG emissions by 38% since 1990 and was continuing "this strong record of improvement."

He said activists "tend" to exaggerate oil sands operations and countered that in more than 30 years of mining, only 0.02% of Canada's 3 million sq km of boreal forest had been disturbed. Of that, 22% had been reclaimed and mostly reforested.

"Our aim is to keep moving ahead with new technologies that further reduce our environmental footprint," Coutu told a business audience Wednesday. "Syncrude is one of Canada's largest research and development companies; it invests about $50 million a year in seeking new and better ways to operate, including improving environmental performance ...

"Every dollar invested in the oil sands creates about $8 in economic activity. Much of this economic value is generated outside Alberta -- in Ontario, in other provinces, in the US and around the world."

"Producing oil from the oil sands is difficult, costly, energy-intensive, and yes, generates carbon dioxide emissions, just like many other industries," he said.

"It does not lend itself to pretty pictures and we know that. We also know that we have done a lot to limit our impacts over the past 30 years, that we can still do better, and that we will do more."

With 97% of Canada's known oil reserves confirmed in the oil sands and with conventional reserves steadily "drying up" in Canada and elsewhere, the oil sands are a critical factor as the global energy mix shifts slowly to renewables and other alternatives, he said.

"But any major shift in the world's energy supplies will take a long time and a great deal of resources. To get from where we are today to where we want to be tomorrow requires a time bridge. The oil sands are part of that bridge and we will need them for some time to come," he added.

Coutu acknowledged the controversy surrounding the oil sands and insisted that the industry was not opposed to criticism. "We are always open to debate and discussion, but we would like a fair and balanced view without misleading information. We all have a contribution to make and our critics are certainly making theirs."

Meanwhile, synthetic crude production from Syncrude Canada's oil sands facility in Fort McMurray, Alberta, climbed 15.9% year on year in September to 10.2 million barrels, or 340,000 b/d.

Separately, COST said that to meet the 2009 production target of 104 million barrels, production would need to average 347,000 b/d for the rest of 2009. COST added that it anticipated production by Syncrude, one of the largest producers of crude oil from Canada's oil sands, would remain close to design capacity for the remainder of the year.

--Ken Pole, newsdesk@platts,com