Water management

Freshwater quality and use are of increasing interest to many Canadians. Access to clean water is essential to the health of people and is critical to Imperial’s operations. We require water at every stage of our business, from exploration and production to refining.

Our approach

We focus on freshwater conservation opportunities, efficient use of water through the design and operation of our facilities, as well as recycling and reuse. Company-wide, we are exploring opportunities to further reduce freshwater use and preserve water quality by:

• recycling water and minimizing freshwater use in existing operations
• managing freshwater use for new projects
• collaborating with industry to reduce implications for local water resources

Each of our businesses implements strategies to meet specific water needs and challenges. In our Upstream business, we are increasingly meeting water needs through the recycling of produced water (water produced along with oil production) and the use of brackish water (water from saline aquifers that is not fit for human consumption or agricultural use). In the Downstream, our efforts are focused on preventing spills from facilities, as well as ways to reduce water consumption and ensuring that water returned to the environment meets high standards.

Performance at a glance

What we are doing

Water recycling at Cold Lake reaches record levels
At the Cold Lake operation, water is used to generate steam that is injected into underground reservoirs to heat the oil so it can be pumped to the surface. Since the technology requires large amounts of steam, specialized techniques have been developed for recycling water. We have developed a produced water technology which allows a high percentage of produced water to be reused for steam generation.

We continue to improve recycling and water efficiency:

Today, recycled water contributes about 95 percent of the Cold Lake operation's total water needs while fresh water and brackish water make up the remainder.

In 2010, we used 91 percent less fresh water per unit of production than in the mid-1980s when Cold Lake began commercial operation.

We currently require 0.34 cubic metres of fresh water to produce one cubic metre of oil.

In 2011, we received approval for our renewal of the Cold Lake Water Licence, which includes a commitment to continue to reduce freshwater use. To achieve this commitment, conservation initiatives are being implemented that, if successful, will reduce freshwater use at Cold Lake by up to 30 percent from current uses. For example, we have equipment that uses fresh water for mechanical seals. We are currently adapting these seals to use produced water.

We also continue to advance plans for the Nabiye expansion project at Cold Lake. When this project begins operation, we will produce more oil without using more fresh water. After a start-up period that may require fresh water, Nabiye will use recycled produced water or brackish water for high-pressure steam production, minimizing the use of fresh water.

In the Downstream, a project was completed to assess the use of best practices in fresh water management and evaluate additional opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle water at our sites. Through this project, we have increased our understanding of the best practices currently in place at our sites, and identified additional opportunities to further improve our water use. Many of the opportunities also included energy use improvements. For example, Nanticoke refinery’s steam condensate recovery program is being expanded and the additional recovered condensate will be recycled, thereby reducing both energy and water use.

In 2010, the amount of fresh water consumed in operating Dartmouth refinery was reduced by 21 percent from 2009 levels. Additional projects to improve water conservation will be implemented in 2011 and the site also made upgrades to equipment to its water effluent and treatment systems.

At Strathcona refinery, a program is underway to expand the volume of stormwater containment during high runoff periods to help reduce the amount of suspended solids in wastewater effluent from the plant. The project is expected to be completed in 2012. Strathcona is also working on an initiative to optimize the number of times cooling water is recycled, which will reduce the site’s fresh water intake.

Water intake facility for Kearl now complete
At the Kearl oil sands project, we are applying creative ways to manage water resources. Using a water storage system, we will reduce water withdrawal from the Athabasca River during low-flow periods. Kearl will also use advanced tailings technologies to recycle process water and reduce water demand.

We have built a river intake and pipeline to withdraw water from the river. Screens were installed in the river intake to protect fish. In 2011, we will begin withdrawing water in limited amounts. We will use water initially to hydro-test the pipeline and fill the storage system in preparation for future operations.

Currently, Kearl requires little water except to compact soil, control dust and for exploration drilling on the lease. We have built a system of drainage ditches and a settling pond to collect surface water and are releasing clean surface water to vegetation or muskeg to naturally filter any sediment before reaching fish-bearing water.

Collaborating with industry to reduce impacts
We work closely with industry to share ideas and develop action plans that can mitigate effects on regional water resources. Currently, we are actively collaborating with industry groups in the Athabasca area and the Horn River Basin.

Athabasca region: Less than three percent of the Athabasca River's natural flow is allocated to the oil and gas sector. To manage low winter flows when withdrawals could represent a larger percentage of the river flow, regulations limit water withdrawals, and the oil sands mining industry will rely on water storage to make up the difference. To help ensure that requirements on the river are efficiently managed, we have been a key driver in a water-sharing agreement between the major oil sands companies operating, or planning to operate, in the Athabasca region. These companies have committed themselves to a plan aimed at preserving acceptable flow rates in the river as set out in a water management framework established by the provincial and federal governments.

We have also participated in the Phase II Water Management Framework, a multi-stakeholder process involving government, industry and other interested parties. This three-year initiative has considered different environmental, social and economic interests in developing a set of recommendations on water withdrawals from the Athabasca River. Key recommendations include reducing industrial water withdrawals during the river's low-flow periods. Completed in 2010, the recommendations are being reviewed by the Alberta government.

Horn River: Water use is required for the development of shale gas, where water is used to fracture the shale to create flow channels for the gas to be produced. In Horn River, we are evaluating opportunities to withdraw water from subsurface sources as we consider future development. In 2010, we participated in a collaborative study led by the Horn River Basin Producers Group and Geoscience BC to identify and map freshwater and saline water aquifers in the basin. The study will establish the suitability of water reservoirs to provide for future exploration and development opportunities of shale gas in the basin.

Managing tailings for the Kearl project
Tailings ponds are common to surface mining operations. Tailings from oil sands mining contain water, clay, sand and minor amounts of bitumen that are not recovered when bitumen is separated from the oil sand. The ponds help separate the solids from the water so that water may be recycled into the process again. They also serve as storage facilities, allowing water to be stored for river low-flow periods when water availability may be restricted.

We will reclaim tailings ponds during and after mining at Kearl. During the project’s first several years of operation, tailings from the bitumen extraction process will be stored in an engineered aboveground tailings area, surrounded by an extensive network of monitoring and seepage collection wells.

The settled “mature” fine tailings will be gradually removed and treated and placed back into the mined area. During an interim period, tailings may be placed in dedicated disposal areas. These treated tailings will be placed in thin layers and allowed to dry. Eventually they will be covered by sand and topsoil and reclaimed to meet the appropriate standards and criteria and re-establish wildlife habitat.

Consistent with the Alberta government's directive to industry to reduce the amount of fluid tailings and accelerate reclamation, a revised tailings management plan for Kearl was conditionally approved by provincial regulators in 2010.

We recognize that more needs to be done to address the tailings issue, and we believe that answers lie in research and development. We are assessing the potential for applying improved tailings treatment technologies to Kearl, including consideration of enhancements to the tailings disposal area and other potential process improvements. For example, pilot testing was conducted in 2010 at Natural Resource Canada’s CANMET facility, a research centre in Devon, Alberta, to evaluate the effectiveness of various options to intercept and dewater the fine clay and asphaltene tailings stream from the paraffinic froth treatment (PFT) process planned for Kearl. The work confirmed, at a pilot level, successful treatment of the PFT tailings stream. Based on these results, we are now exploring a potential field test with other companies to advance management of PFT tailings.