The Alberta oilsands contains the world’s second largest proven reserves of oil. And, while the oilsands were discovered more than 100 years, ago, it is only during the past thirty years that they became economically viable to produce at world oil prices. Today, more than $125 billion has been committed to the development of the Alberta oilsands. Most of this investment was announced during the past ten years, which has led to enormous development pressures and challenges within the Province of Alberta.
In 2005, the Netherlands requested Honorary Consul Allan Bleiken in Edmonton, to prepare a comprehensive report on the Alberta oilsands for the Dutch oil and gas industry. This report was circulated to members of the Dutch government and business community in early 2006, where it received a great deal of interest and attention. In February 2006, I met with several Ministers of the Alberta Government as well as numerous business leaders in Edmonton to assess the potential contribution of the Dutch oil and gas industry to help meet the pressing challenges and demands within the oilsands industry. The response to these meetings was very positive.
Immediately after these meetings, I went to The Hague to advise the most senior members of the Dutch Government of the situation regarding the Alberta oilsands and the important role that the Dutch oil and gas industry could make towards their development. In April of 2006, Consul General in Vancouver at the time Joop Corijn (the current Consul General is Hans Driesser) and Honorary Consul Allan Bleiken visited the Netherlands to consult with leaders in the Dutch business community and additional members of the Dutch Government. From these meetings, it became readily apparent that the Dutch oil and gas industry could make an important and substantial contribution towards the development of the Alberta oil sands.
On December 13th, 2006, the FME-CMW, a large business association representing more than 2700 Dutch companies in the Netherlands, held an Alberta Oilsands Conference in The Hague. The conference was attended by 160 delegates representing more than 100 business and government organizations. The response to the presentations given at the conference, including a major presentation by Mr. Clive Mather, the President of Shell Canada Ltd., was extremely positive. As a result of the conference, it was agreed that FME-CWM would organize a business mission to Alberta representing some 30 companies from the Netherlands in June, 2007. Chairman of FME-CWM, Mr. Jan Kamminga, will lead this business mission. The purpose of the mission is to link the capabilities and resources of the Dutch oil and gas industry to the needs and challenges of the Alberta oilsands.
It should be noted that the Dutch oil and gas industry is active throughout the world and has developed leading edge expertise and technologies in many areas of the energy sector. This is particularly important to the Alberta oilsands industry, which has an urgent need to find additional resources and improvements to nearly every area of its operations. The Dutch oil and gas industry is confident it can be of great benefit to the Alberta oilsands. It is looking forward to the opportunity to meet with members of the Alberta oilsands industry to discuss and define where these contributions can be made.
This website is intended to provide an overview of the Dutch business mission in June and the opportunities and benefits of a stronger relationship between the Alberta oilsands and the Dutch oil and gas industry. I encourage you to review the information contained in this site and to advise us of your interest in meeting with members of the Dutch business mission when they come to Alberta. |
