Canada Launches Heavy Oil Working Group to Promote Cleaner Fossil Fuels

The Government of Canada has established a Heavy Oil Working Group. The Honorable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources, initiated the working group with leaders from countries with heavy oil potential in the Americas during the Ministerial meeting of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) in Washington, DC on 16 April.

Comprising countries such as Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the United States and Venezuela, the Heavy Oil Working Group will collaborate on clean energy research to reduce the impact of fossil fuel development.

This working group will provide a forum for Canada to demonstrate its expertise and share knowledge on oil development and technologies, including the oil sands.

—Minister Paradis

The group will facilitate the exchange of information and the sharing of expertise in the area of heavy oil extraction and development. It will work in partnership with other global networks, heavy oil organizations and industry in participating countries, as well as with research groups, academia and environmental organizations.

At the Fifth Summit of the Americas held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in April, 2009, US President Obama announced the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA). The ECPA is a voluntary mechanism that aims to bring countries across the Western Hemisphere together to facilitate the acceleration of clean energy development and deployment, advance energy security, and reduce energy poverty by sharing best practices, encouraging investment, and cooperating on technology research, development and deployment.