Environmental and socio-economic impact assessments

Our approach
Another way we address environmental issues is through increased levels of protection when planning new projects. Environmental and socio-economic impact studies are conducted to examine how a potential project may affect the surrounding environment. These studies examine a project’s potential to impact the biological, physical, socio-economic and cultural environment. In some cases, we supplement these studies by collecting traditional knowledge from communities in our project area. If any potential project activity is identified as having an unacceptable risk to the environment, the project design is revised or mitigation measures are developed to provide the necessary environmental protection.

What we are doing

Collecting baseline data for Ajurak-Pokak joint venture exploration project

In July 2010, Imperial executed an agreement to cross-convey interests in respective Beaufort Sea exploration licenses. As a result of the cross-conveyance, Imperial now holds a 25 percent interest in about a million acres of exploration acreage in the Beaufort Sea area of northern Canada in conjunction with ExxonMobil (25 percent) and BP (50 percent).

The agreement assigns Imperial as the operator. As operator, Imperial is responsible for understanding baseline information on the biological, physical and geological conditions of the project area to ensure that all future operations are conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.

In 2010, the joint venture continued with a collaborative data collection program to understand the baseline conditions in the area. Since field program data collection was initiated in 2008, the joint venture partners have spent more than $30 million collecting and analyzing baseline biological, physical and seafloor data. This data helps Imperial understand the biodiversity of the Beaufort Sea and the seafloor and physical conditions (including ice and ocean currents) that can affect our future operations.

Our studies also consider socioeconomic conditions in the project area to ensure that the positive impacts are understood and any potentially negative impacts of project activities mitigated where appropriate. In 2010, Imperial completed a baseline study of socioeconomic conditions in the Inuvialuit settlement region, including demographics, economy, culture and community wellness.

Imperial is participating in the National Energy Board's comprehensive review of offshore Arctic drilling, and further work to support drilling operations await the insights and improvements identified by this review.

Environmental improvements for Nabiye approved

We advanced plans for the 30,000-barrel-a-day Nabiye expansion to our Cold Lake operation. Despite receiving regulatory approval earlier for the Nabiye expansion, we filed project amendments in 2009 that further improve the environmental performance. The improvements include reducing the land use footprint through the application of directional drilling, cogeneration for more efficient production of steam and electricity, and technology to remove sulphur emissions. These modifications were supported by an environmental effects study. In 2010, we received regulatory approvals for these environmental improvements.