ETHICAL OIL

Ezra Levant, in his book, talks about “Ethical Oil”. In the 177-page book, separated

in 12 chapters the Author makes the case that in terms of four criteria like the

environment, conflict, economic and social justice and freedom from oppression; the

Canadian petroleum industry is "heads above other crude producers like Saudi Arabia,

Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela". Highlighting perceived hypocrisy from Western

progressive and environmental movements, the author confronts what he sees as unfair

and excessive criticism of oil sands, stating that the "oil sands are not perfect, and

criticizing them is fair game.

Unlike conventional liquid oil, the oil sands are a type of bitumen. “Oil mixed with

sand and clay that has the thickness of peanut butter” that is more difficult and

expensive to extract. Levant explains that higher oil prices, and hence higher oil

company profits, have led to capital investment in new technologies and extraction

processes that have made “the oil sands economically viable”

Oil sands in Alberta have a proven reserve of 170 billion barrels (2.7×1010 m3), the

second largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world. They have become the largest

source of oil imported into the United States. With significant economic development

and investment into the oil sands, the industry has been enjoying strong support by both

the province's government and the federal government. However, the industry has also

been subject to criticism due to the environmental impacts of bitumen exploit While the

industry has attempted to resolve these issues by developing new techniques, such as in

situ extraction, environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, have launched

campaigns to delegitimize the resource, based on its greenhouse gas emission records.
 The first oil company to work the oil sands region was Suncor, in 1967. The open-pit

mines that many people think of when picturing the oil sands are a relic of the early

days of oil exploration and extraction. Today,

Most of the thick bitumen (80 percent) is deep in the ground and must be drilled for

and pumped out using steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), whereby steam is

injected to reduce the viscosity of the bitumen, which then drains, by force of gravity,

into a pipe below the steam and is pumped out. Using this technology, Canadian Oil

Sands companies are able to transform what was once “considered an experimental

project” into an oil-generating powerhouse.

But as Canada has become a larger player in the global oil market, Levant explains,

environmentalists and other critics of the oil sands have increasingly condemned this

technology and the companies that employ it. The critics claim that the oil sands are

“140,000 square kilometers of toxic sludge” and “giant toxic lakes” inhabited by

deformed fish, and that “migrating birds sometimes stop to rest” at these toxic sites

before dying by the “tens of millions”. Critics further claim that because of the high

volume of water required to extract oil from these sites, “the mighty Athabasca River is

about to become a small, dirty creek”. They claim that the oil sands are “poisoning the

aboriginals” in the region and “poisoning our very planet”. And they claim that Fort

McMurray, the urban center of oil sands production, is afflicted with all the “social ills

of a boom town—the violence, the mistreatment of women, the addiction problems, and

an artificially high cost of living that makes almost anyone with a job part of the

working poor”

Levant contends that the foregoing criticisms are “false every one of them”. He

shows with several examples that the majority of "ethical funds" are only made up of a

number of people who say one thing and make a totally different one, they are owners
not only of several oil and gas companies but also of companies that produce minerals.

They are interested only in keeping their personal interests making them up as ethical

activities in favor of the environment and society. However, the one thing many “ethical

funds” agree on is that they won’t invest in nuclear power. Never ever.

Regarding environmental pollution, RAMP’S been measuring the health of rivers

and lakes around the oil sands region since 1997, routinely testing water for

contaminants and acid levels, sediment for quality, and fish and other life forms for

toxins. Its work is periodically peer reviewed to ensure accuracy. It’s a massive

undertaking – both RAMP and Timoney knew that it’s not nearly as easy as sitting

down to eat a filet of trout. But that’s the difficult, meticulous nature of proper

scientific research.

And in its latest report, issued in 2008, RAMP found the variance between a baseline

measurement and the hydrology, water quality, the sediment quality, and the health of

invertebrates in the Lower Athabasca and the Athabasca River

Delta to be, in every case, “Negligible to Low.”

In other words, there was no substantial difference between a natural,

uncontaminated body of water and the rivers and lakes around the oil sands.

RAMP’S study of fish in the Athabasca found robust populations, which while

showing, in a few cases, slightly elevated levels of mercury, something common to all

seafood, posed “a Negligible-Low risk to human health.”

About Pungarayacu, I think the situation is slightly different because of the

biodiversity that exists in our country. However, the world needs energy and our

country needs economic resources. The exploitation of Pugarayacu would be a success

if a balance is achieved between the technical, economic, environmental and social, free

of corruption; something that is really difficult. I believe that as students and future
professionals of the industry we have the obligation to change the panorama and

achieve the generation of resources in an appropriate way without corruption, for us and

for the advancement of our country.