Calgary Herald News Services
The officer below models crowd control gear worn by police in recent demonstrations in Windsor, Ont. Calgary police have said their officers will be similarly outfitted although black fatigues will be worn over the equipment to give officers a softer look. The Calgary Police Service Crowd Control Unit has doubled from 60 to 120 with assistance from Edmonton police and the RCMP.
Calgary Herald News Services
Calls for action have been put out to thousands of activists throughout the world using telephone, the Internet and other forms of modern communication. Protest organizers claim they don't know how many people will show up for rallies and demonstrations. Police estimate about 2,000 protesters to converge in Calgary for anti-oil industry events.
Chris Varcoe, Calgary Herald
BP Amoco leader Sir John Browne says the British oil giant will consider taking an ownership role in a new natural gas pipeline to the North as the industry charges into the new energy frontier of North America.
In an interview Monday with the Herald, Browne said BP Amoco's Canadian affiliate is talking with industry players and pipeline companies about northern investment as it eyes future development in the Mackenzie Delta, Beaufort Sea and Alaska.
Browne's revelation came as delegates got down to business on Day 2 of the World Petroleum Congress and expected protests outside fizzled.
While no decision has been made, corporate heavyweights such as BP Amoco are seeking to remove the main obstacle to exploiting huge northern gas reserves -- lack of a pipeline to ship the resource to market. "Our cost of capital is such that if we find the right returns on a pipeline and are permitted to own it, we'd certainly consider doing that. Pipelines are not something that we shy away from as a matter of principle," said the company's chief executive.
"Within the decade, it looks as if the market is there to deliver gas from the North . . . . The issue is not an engineering issue. The issue is partly a cost issue -- at what gas price do we think it's the right risk level to take."
Given current red-hot prices for natural gas in North America, experts say the prospects for a northern pipeline -- estimated to cost $6 billion -- are bright.
Energy analyst John Mawdsley of FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary said BP's participation would send a message to the sector about the future of northern development.
At stake is access to a huge resource needed to fuel growing continental demand. The International Energy Agency predicts gas demand will jump six per cent annually for the next two decades. Canada's National Energy Board estimates nine trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas has been discovered in the region and 55 tcf remains to be found.
Tapping into the huge gas reserves was sidetracked in the early 1980s due to regulatory matters, environmental concerns and First Nations land issues.
With rising gas prices, the sector is northward-bound; many of the earlier obstacles are expected to be resolved.
Several routes for a pipeline are being considered by the industry, including passage through the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or from Alaska into British Columbia.
BP Amoco Canada, the country's largest natural gas producer, has held discussions with a number of pipeline companies, but hasn't selected a favoured path south.
"There are different routes for the delivery of natural gas to the lower
48 (states), they all have to be looked at," Browne said. "The bottom line is they all end up in Alberta . . . it's the hub for everything."
Liquifying the gas is another option being studied but "that looks the least likely of all of them," he added.
In Alaska, BP's estimated reserves are as high as nine tcf of gas around the Prudhoe Bay oil basin.
In Canada, the energy giant has almost 90,000 acres in the Yukon and N.W.T., along with 155,000 acres of significant discovery licences -- area containing proven gas reserves -- in the Beaufort Sea.
However, observers note the Canadian petroleum industry charged down the same path two decades but was tripped up. In his 1977 report, Justice Thomas Berger argued there should be a 10-year moratorium on the development of pipelines in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories until native claims had been settled.
"Eventually that gas will come to market," said Imperial Oil CEO Bob Peterson, whose company is one of several Canadian firms studying Arctic gas development.
"I used to say it was seven or eight (years) away. That was 27 years ago. It's still seven or eight years away."
Geoffrey Scotton, Calgary Herald and Bob Weber, Canadian Press
Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald
A senior United Nations environmental official called on the world's energy industry Wednesday to accelerate and broaden efforts to deal with environmental and social problems or it will face increasing unrest. While corporate heads express noble sentiments at conferences, their companies often work behind the scenes for opposite ends, said Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, head of the United Nations Environment Program. "Very often, I hear CEOs saying something, and I am seeing lobbying in those meetings that is not consistent with the CEOs' language." De Larderel said the oil industry must learn to listen to people, such as those who have been protesting outside the congress this week. "The demonstrations in Seattle are clear warnings," de Larderel said.
Her remarks were in stark contrast to fellow panelist Dick Cheney, former secretary of defence under U.S. president George Bush and now CEO of Houston-based oil services company Haliburton Co. Cheney acknowledged the importance of the so-called "triple bottom line" of profitability and environmental and social sustainability. But he said the industry has come a long way in answering those concerns. "I'm not here to apologize for the industry or make excuses for it," he said. The industry's challenge is to educate the public and media on steps it is already taking, he said. Cheney said oil and natural gas companies, such as his oilfield services firm, have been spending billions of dollars to improve their environmental performance, often without fair recognition. "Our industry is saddled with an image problem, as a polluting smokestack industry," said Cheney. "People need to realize that the energy industry often represents the largest foreign investment in many parts of the world and we are having a positive impact in many developing countries," said Cheney. "In terms of community service commitments and building social infrastructure, how many other industries have done as much as the oil industry in developing countries?" "How many investment banks do you know that have built schools in developing countries where they've made millions of dollars in fees from privatizations. How many airlines have built housing? How many manufacturers have built hospitals? The oil industry is unlike any other in this regard." Cheney said trade itself is an important means of improving the lives of people in developing nations. "Trade and the exchange of ideas are important ways of opening up these societies," he said.
But de Larderel -- while acknowledging some companies and executives have shown leadership, and noting her very presence at the WPC is a sign that environmental and social concerns are garnering attention and action -- said much more must be done. "It's time to accelerate action and time for all petroleum companies to be involved. We have heard a number of enlightened leaders, but I know not everyone is on the same wavelength," said de Larderel, who also argued there are sometimes differences between what corporate leaders say and how their firms perform. Olav Fjell, the president and chief executive of Norway's state oil company, Statoil, opened the WPC session Wednesday. He argued that ethical conduct in the area of environmental and social performance is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for successful corporate operations. "Companies act responsibly in large measure because they can do well by doing good," said Fjell. "From this perspective corporate social responsibility also become a strategy for gaining competitive advantage. "Companies that act in accordance with principles of good corporate citizen ship may reap a reputational dividend," Fjell added.
He also argued the era of firms being able to present an environmentally and socially responsible image without actual substance is over. "Talk is no longer cheap. Words have consequences. Corporations must walk the talk, otherwise they will have to pay." Global media will ensure that companies are held to account, he said. "The time when it was possible to say something and do different are gone," he said. "When it comes to the hard questions of whether to spend more money, I think it's very important to have a press that follows very, very closely what we are doing." Depending on media and public opinion may not be enough, said de Larderel. She said more companies should participate in a UN report that tracks corporate performance on dozens of social and environmental issues. "Then it becomes a question not of 'trust us,' but 'track us.' " Outside the conference, protester Tooker Gomberg of the End of Oil Action Committee scoffed at the notion of any triple bottom line for the oil industry. "These are the largest corporations on earth and they're clearly causing extraordinary ecological damage and human rights abuses." Nor did he feel as if congress delegates had made much attempt to listen to what the protesters had to say. "Ideally, in a democracy there is plenty of room for protest and debate. That certainly was not the case here."
OPEC Secretary General Rilwanu Lukman insisted Tuesday that world oil prices aren't too steep, despite crude climbing to a three-month high as it marched above $32 US a barrel.
Speaking at the 16th World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, Lukman said consuming countries and angry motorists shouldn't blame large oil-producing countries for the latest price spike. While he spoke, commodity traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange drove up oil prices 82 cents to $32.56 US per barrel -- the highest point since March 6 and second-highest level in a dozen years. Lukman, however, said oil is still cheaper to buy than a bottle of water or can of soda. "Oil is not overtly expensive.
Really, we have to resist the accusation that oil is too expensive," he said. "These current prices are high, but they're not too high." Throughout this year, OPEC and key allies such as Mexico and Norway have been under intense pressure by the Clinton administration in Washington and other Western governments to pump more oil into the world's energy markets to ease escalating prices.
The group is responsible for 40 per cent of the world's overall oil production and is home to 77 per cent of the total proven oil reserves. Lukman, however, wouldn't tip his hand about what the 11 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will do when they hold a meeting in Vienna next week. Despite a deal by the cartel this spring to boost production seven per cent to tame high prices, oil has risen 28 per cent in the past two months in New York -- and almost eight per cent this week. Gasoline prices across Canada are also on the move, averaging a record 75.3 cents a litre last week.
Energy analysts say concerns about tight crude supplies during the summer driving season have triggered the latest rally. An American Petroleum Institute report Tuesday showed U.S. crude inventories dropped 2.1 million barrels last week. Robert Priddle, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, told the congress that the commodity markets have sent a resounding message that the world's oil appetite is underfed. "I trust the producers will listen to what the market is saying at the moment -- and $31 per barrel is not a market that is aptly supplied with crude oil." Priddle also took a shot at a new mechanism OPEC adopted in March to automatically boost supply if the price of crude moved out the $23-$28 US a barrel range, calling it a flimsy and secretive way to manage the market. Lukman countered that people outside OPEC seem to know what the cartel should do before it even meets. OPEC doesn't want to pump more oil if the price is being affected by "freak" conditions or seasonal factors and must study the issue further, he said. "If it's a freak and prices just shot up for speculative reasons, then we wouldn't jump and start pouring oil into the market," Lukman said. "If they are rising on a sustained basis, then we'll be obliged to do something -- and we will...
If they turn out to be a fluke, then we would be jumping the gun, wouldn't we?" All eyes in the coming days will be on the largest oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia. Saudi Prince Faisal Al-Saud, a close adviser to the kingdom's Ministry of Petroleum, a key speaker at the congress Tuesday, did his best not to be drawn into the debate. "While oil prices should be adequate to induce sufficient supply, they should not be so high as to inhibit real demand," he said. As consumers grow weary of high gasoline and heating oil prices, petroleum producers and oil-producing regions -- including Alberta -- are quietly benefitting from the commodity price upturn. Canada's petroleum producers will make record profits and cash flow this year, said oil analyst Wilf Gobert of investment firm Peters & Co. in Calgary. Every $1-a-barrel increase in the price of oil contributes about $150 million to Alberta's provincial coffers.
Stephen Ewart, Calgary Herald
The journey from the last World Petroleum Congress in Beijing to the Jubilee Auditorium today started out amid twists and turns of the Great Wall of China. The contingent of Calgarians on the trek that day couldn't have realized it was just a warm-up.
But after three years of ups and downs -- from the pinballing price of oil to concerns about construction of a new convention centre and, lately, fears of civil unrest -- the once-in-a-lifetime gathering of the oil industry elite in Calgary has arrived.
"We had a few anxious moments along the way but everybody is really pleased at how well it has all come together," says WPC Calgary chairman Jim Gray, a local oilman brought in two years ago to raise the funds to pay for the congress just as oil prices skidded to the bottom of the barrel.
For the those unaware, the WPC is the pre-eminent gathering of petroleum industry powerbrokers. It dates to 1933 and was traditionally dedicated to an exchange of technical papers on how best to find and produce the world's most important commodity.
It is not an OPEC meeting. There are no policies set on global oil production that can send the price shooting off in one direction or the other. Nor is it an investment symposium. Don't expect to hear announcements of billion-dollar corporate takeovers.
"It's a gathering of the best intellectual capital in the industry," says PanCanadian Petroleum executive Gerry Protti, a Calgary organizer.
On Saturday, Calgary police were putting finishing touches on security measures for the congress. Early in the day the police command centre was activated and tested to make sure it was ready for any event. It's hooked in to all the city departments that could be affected by rowdy protests including: transit, streets and emergency medical services.
The only other preparation under way the day before the congress kickoff was the implementation of the no-go zone which is a secure area that will surround delegates. Both areas are restricted to authorized people only.
Stooke is encouraging all Calgarians to avoid 10th Street N.W. between 4th and 16th Avenues after lunchtime Sunday as it will be cordoned off to allow delegates to attend the opening ceremonies.
The Calgarians wanted to make the WPC more relevant to the industry -- which meant butting heads with a few traditionalists along the way -- and they worked to ensure the conference had a business focus and dealt with issues such as environment, financing and management.
Thomas Stauffer, the respected Washington-based oil industry consultant, has attended congresses in the past and says that while they attract large delegations from lots of countries they have not been a dynamic force in the industry.
"The World Petroleum Congress is such a great big circus, but it's never been interesting," says Stauffer, a former adviser to U.S. presidents on energy policy. "The WPC is just a zoo but . . . it's probably good for networking."
Indeed, networking is the buzz word around this WPC.
Ray Cej, the co-chairman of the Calgary WPC and a driving force in bringing a vibrant business sense to a traditionally staid event, says the ability to speak face to face with someone is still critical in an era when global communication is instant.
"Personal contact goes a long way in any business," Cej says.
The mandate for the Congress -- with its 2,500-plus delegates from 85 countries -- is to take a broad look at the big-picture issues facing the industry in a series of lectures, discussions, seminars and exchanges of scientific papers.
"I don't expect that a lot business per se will get done over course of the four or five days," Cej adds. "I do expect it will become a catalyst for future business."
Even the speakers list, which includes BP Amoco chief executive Sir John Browne, Saudi Prince Faisal and Rilwanu Lukman, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, was designed to attract the right delegate.
Some business will get done over this week, but those announcements will tend to come from the National Petroleum Show, a giant industry shopping mall set up on the Stampede Grounds. Forecasts run as high as $10 billion in deals at the show, but most of that money will change hands long after the exhibits are packed up. With the current sky-high prices for oil and natural gas, delegates to both events have money to spend if they choose.
Eighteen months ago it wasn't the same story.
Just when Gray and others were heading out to collect their half of the $10-million cost of staging the event, the price of oil stubbornly clung to levels so low energy companies were disappearing from the corporate Calgary map.
As prices recovered so did the spirits around the WPC.
Today, with buoyant oil and natural gas prices and local companies making big waves internationally, the energy world meets in Calgary at just about the most dynamic time in the history of the Canadian petroleum industry.
Consider the state of Canada's world-class prospects:
Indeed, the real Calgary Stampede in recent years has been by American oil companies moving north to get a piece of the action.
Despite the sunny outlook, however, it has been the spectre of demonstrations that has recently hung over the congress like a cloud.
The organizers of the Calgary WPC are clearly concerned that "the noise outside," as Cej calls it, could turn the conference, on which they have worked for so long, into a side show as protests against the industry take centre stage for the media.
Randy Gossen, an executive at Canadian Occidental Petroleum, and the leader of the program committee for Calgary, has made it a mission to move the focus of the congress to deal with many of the same issues the protesters are raising. More than 25 per cent of the schedule in Calgary is devoted to social and environmental issues.
"That's the irony," Gossen says. "We're concerned about the very same issues."
The TELUS Convention Centre
Open to industry and related organizations, associations, institutions, government bodies, and the WPC National Committee Stands, all aspects of the world's oil and gas industry were represented.
A |
AGRA Inc. Alberta Research Council Algeria National Committee/SONATRACH Angola National Committee Argentina National Committee/Instituto Argentino Del Petroleo Y Del Gas Arthur Anderson LLP Aspen Technology, Inc.Australia National Committee Government of Alberta |
B |
Belgium National Committee Brazil National Committee Government of British Columbia |
C |
Canadian Association of Petroleum Products Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. Canadian Petroleum Institute China National Committee Croatia National Committee Crown Industries Inc.Cuba National Committee/CUBA PETROLEO Czech Republic National Committee Government of Canada |
D |
DataCon Core Repository Consulting Group Denmark National Committee Devco InternationalDST/SIDERCA |
E |
Ecopetrol Elsevier Science ENI Ensign Resources Group ETAP - TUNISIA |
F |
France National Committee/Association Françoise des Techniciens Professionels du Pétrol |
G |
Gabon National Committee GlobalView Software Inc |
H |
Hungary National Committee |
I |
IFP Technologies (Canada) Inc. Indian Oil and Gas CanadaInternational Datashare Corp.IPIECAIran National Committee IROC H2S ConsultingItaly National Committee |
J |
Japan National Committee |
K |
Kuwait Petroleum Company |
L |
Lukoil |
M |
Marathon Canada Ltd. Merak Projects Ltd.Mount Royal College |
N |
Government of Newfoundland Government of Nova Scotia Government of NWT Netherlands National Committee NDM Radian Nigeria National Committee Norway National Committee/Norwegian Trade Council |
O |
Offshore/Onshore Technologies Association of Nova ScotiaGovernment of Ontario ORMAT |
P |
PanCanadian Petroleum Limited Papua New Guinea National Committee Peru National Committee/Peru Petro S.A. Petresearch LimitedPetro-CanadaPetroleum Industry Training ServicePetroleum Services Association of CanadaPetroleum Society of CIMPoland National Committee Pricewaterhouse Coopers |
Q |
Government of Québec |
R |
Republic of Korea National Committee Republic of Slovenia National CommitteeResourceLink Software Inc.Romania National Committee Russia National Committee |
S |
Government of Saskatchewan Saudi Arabia National Committee/Saudi Aramco Schlumberger SES CeaseFireSouth Africa National Committee Southern Alberta Institute of TechnologySproule Associates Limited |
T |
Titan Projects Ltd. TransCanada Turkey National Committee |
U |
UBS Bank (Canada)United Kingdom National Committee/Department of Trade and Industry United Oil and Gas Consulting United States of America National Committee/American Petroleum InstituteUniversity of AlbertaUniversity of CalgaryUpstream |
V |
Van Meurs & Associates Ltd.Varian Canada Inc.Venezuela National Committee Vietnam National Committee |
W |
Waterous & Co. Wood Mackenzie World Energy Magazine |
X |
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Y |
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Z |
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada - June 19, 2000 ... The success of the 16th World Petroleum Congress, held June 11 - 15 in Calgary, will leave a legacy for all Canadians, according to Canadian Congress Organizers.
Canada's first-ever opportunity to host the prestigious gathering of the world's oil and gas industry leaders attracted participants from a record-high number of 97 countries. The tally shows a total of 4,642 people attended the Congress, among them 3,078 delegates, 439 accompanying persons, 625 exhibitors and 421 media. Some 900 Calgary volunteers were also involved.
"We've added a positive chapter to the WPC story," says Jim Gray, 16th WPC Chairman. "The breadth and depth of the program-where almost 30 per cent of all papers and presentations focused on the environment and social responsibility-was unparalleled. We took program content to a new level.
"What we've seen in Calgary is an industry in growth and transition. We've seen an industry embracing meaningful discussion in new areas; it signals an industry that is more willing to listen."
Well-attended plenary sessions, featuring some of the world's most high-profile leaders in the industry, addressed topics ranging from financing petroleum development to the challenges of social responsibility. More than 300 papers and posters were presented in four theme areas: upstream; downstream; natural gas, petrochemicals and transportation; and business management. New initiatives included the popular Global Business Opportunities Centre and an increased focus on networking.
Locally, the Congress is expected to contribute $15 - $20 million to the economy, and Gray notes that long-term contributions will be significantly higher. "Success isn't measured only in how much business has been done, but in how much has been started," he says. "Literally thousands of meetings were held in Calgary last week, and these meetings will lead to big payoffs in the future.
"The 16th WPC has crystallized Calgary's reputation in the oil and gas industry, and has identified Calgary and Alberta as partners of choice for many international companies."
Because attendance at the Congress exceeded expectations, organizers say they will create a Canada-wide scholarship program for students in the industry. Full details won't be known until the 16th WPC's final accounting is complete, likely in the next few months.
Founded in London in 1933, the World Petroleum Congresses provides a forum for discussing the issues facing the oil and gas industry on a worldwide basis. Its 59 member countries include the major oil producing and consuming nations of the world. The next gathering of the group, the 17th World Petroleum Congress, will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sept. 1 - 5, 2002.