CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/05/12 -- The Canadian oil and gas industry's 2012 Responsible Canadian Energy (RCE) progress report was released today by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

"Canada's oil and natural gas industry delivers energy to Canada and the world in a responsible way every day," said CAPP president Dave Collyer. "This report is an opportunity to demonstrate progress in key performance areas, to be candid about our challenges, and to encourage a collaborative approach to performance improvement."

The report provides 2011 industry performance information and analysis supported by data from CAPP members in the areas of people, air, water and land performance for Western Canada, Oil Sands and the Atlantic Canada offshore region.

Key indicators of 2011 performance include the following:

--  Industry safety performance improved as measured by both the number of
    fatalities and employee injury frequency;
--  Absolute GHG emissions remained relatively flat in 2011, while
    production slightly increased;
--  A multi-year reduction of absolute nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur
    dioxide (SO2) emissions continued in 2011;
--  Fresh water withdrawal per barrel of production continues to decline
    across the industry; and,
--  The total surface land footprint is increasing as the industry grows,
    although technology such as horizontal drilling is helping to mitigate
    impact.

CAPP's RCE Advisory Group, which consists of independent safety, environmental, social and industry experts, reviewed the report. They noted improvements in both performance and reporting, but also encouraged CAPP to continue efforts to develop more robust metrics and performance comparators.

Performance highlights:

People

CAPP member companies reported five fatalities in 2011 compared with seven fatalities in 2010. The injury rate declined from a total recordable injury frequency (TRIF) of 1.15 in 2007 to a TRIF of 0.89 in 2011. However, cumulative data indicates injury rate reductions are virtually unchanged and have plateaued since 2009 while total exposure hours have increased by about 10 per cent. This means that although injury rates in a larger workforce have been maintained at a low level relative to other years, the absolute number of injuries is up. Focus is needed on ongoing reduction in both the absolute number of injuries and injury rates.

Air

Direct GHG emissions declined 0.5 per cent from 88.1 million tonnes in 2010 to 87.6 million tonnes in 2011 and indirect emissions increased slightly from 14.3 million tonnes to 14.8 million tonnes. Taken together, total GHG emissions remained flat at 102.4 million tonnes even while there was a one per cent growth in oil and gas production in 2011.

Overall GHG emissions intensity remained essentially flat in 2011 at 0.32 tonnes of GHG emitted per cubic metre of oil equivalent production. It is recognized that a shift to more energy intensive production methods such as oil sands and hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas, as well as in situ oil sands production, means reducing GHG emissions intensity will continue to be a challenge in the near term.

Industry continued a multi-year downward trend in SO2 and NOX emissions, despite more operating facilities and increased production of oil with higher sulphur content. National SO2 emissions from oil and gas operations declined by nine per cent in 2011, while NOX emissions declined by six per cent.

Water

Fresh water withdrawals were down 12 per cent at oil sands mining operations to 2.7 barrels per barrel of production, 10 per cent at in situ operations to 0.36 barrels, and 17 per cent at Western Canada operations to 0.72 barrels. The declines are due to industry's successful efforts to improve recycling rates and use non-potable water sources where possible.

Land

The total well count (active plus inactive wells) in Western Canada increased 14 per cent to 36,843 wells. Of the 32,684 abandoned conventional wells, 50 per cent are under active reclamation, 23 per cent are being assessed and 27 per cent are temporarily deferred. Total active footprint for oil sands mining operations was up seven per cent in 2011 to 76,070 hectares, including 10 per cent in some stage of the reclamation process.

"The oil and gas industry requires social license conduct its activities. Social license is broader than transparent measurement and reporting of industry performance data alone," Collyer said. "It must be underscored by the sincere belief that the upstream oil and gas industry - both companies and individuals - will behave responsibly and in the broader public interest."

The RCE report is available here.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) represents companies, large and small, that explore for, develop and produce natural gas and crude oil throughout Canada. CAPP's member companies produce about 90 per cent of Canada's natural gas and crude oil. CAPP's associate members provide a wide range of services that support the upstream crude oil and natural gas industry. Together CAPP's members and associate members are an important part of a national industry with revenues of about $100 billion-a-year. CAPP's mission is to enhance the economic sustainability of the Canadian upstream petroleum industry in a safe and environmentally and socially responsible manner, through constructive engagement and communication with governments, the public and stakeholders in the communities in which we operate.

HIGHLIGHTS

People

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                                2007      2008      2009      2010      2011
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National
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Worker Fatalities
 (Number/yr)                       9        12        25         7         5
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Combined Total Recordable
 Injury Frequency (TRIF)        1.15      1.08      0.85      0.88      0.89
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Western Canada
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Worker Fatalities
 (Number/yr)                       6         7         6         5         4
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Combined Total Recordable
 Injury Frequency (TRIF)        1.25      1.13      0.93      1.00      0.97
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Oil Sands
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worker Fatalities
 (Number/yr)                       3         5         2         2         1
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Combined Total Recordable
 Injury Frequency (TRIF)        1.01      0.93      0.71      0.74      0.79
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Atlantic Canada Offshore
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Worker Fatalities
 (Number/yr)                       0         0        17         0         0
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Combined Total Recordable
 Injury Frequency (TRIF)        1.26      1.92      1.33      0.56      0.69
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Air (GHGs, NOx, SO2)

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                        2007        2008        2009        2010        2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
National
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO2 emissions
 (tonnes/yr)         240,388     214,047     228,448     197,334     178,618
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SO2 intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Production)            0.71        0.68        0.72        0.63        0.56
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NOx emissions
 (tonnes/yr)         290,856     286,555     299,852     283,407     265,948
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOx intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Production)            0.98        0.97        0.93        0.90        0.84
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total CO2
 equivalent
 emissions
 (tonnes/yr)      94,898,732  90,607,676  98,826,706 102,399,539 102,442,702
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Tonnes GHG
 emitted per m3
 OE of Production       0.28        0.28        0.31        0.32        0.32
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Western Canada
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO2 emissions
 (tonnes/yr)         115,412      97,639      96,792      83,066      77,506
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SO2 intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Production)            0.48        0.44        0.44        0.41        0.39
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOx emissions
 (tonnes/yr)         229,585     223,815     224,298     194,693     175,367
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOx intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Production)            1.04        1.12        1.02        0.96        0.88
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total CO2
 equivalent
 emissions
 (tonnes/yr)      58,121,668  51,716,863  56,401,797  54,286,496  53,583,594
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnes GHG
 emitted per m3
 OE of Production       0.24        0.23        0.24        0.27        0.27
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Oil Sands
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SO2 Emissions
 (tonnes/yr)         124,942     116,405     131,655     114,267     101,111
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SO2 Intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Bitumen
 Production)            1.69        1.64        1.60        1.24        1.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOx Emissions
 (tonnes/yr)          54,591      58,255      69,307      82,342      84,037
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NOx Intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Bitumen
 Production)            0.74        0.83        0.84        0.89        0.83
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Total CO2
 Equivalent
 Emissions
 (tonnes/yr)      34,465,421  37,332,657  40,482,998  46,253,129  47,077,398
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Tonnes GHG
 Emitted per m3
 OE of Bitumen
 Production             0.47        0.52        0.49        0.50        0.47
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Atlantic Canada Offshore
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SO2 Emissions
 (tonnes/yr)              30           2           2           1           1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO2 Intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Production)           0.001      0.0003     0.00008     0.00005     0.00007
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NOx Emissions
 (tonnes/yr)           6,680       4,484       6,247       6,372       6,544
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOx Intensity
 (tonnes per
 103m3 OE of
 Production)            0.25        0.23        0.32        0.33        0.35
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total CO2
 Equivalent
 Emissions
 (tonnes/yr)       2,311,642   1,558,158   1,941,911   1,859,914   1,781,710
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Tonnes GHG
 Emitted per m3
 OE of Production       0.09        0.08        0.09        0.10        0.09
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Water Management

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                        2007        2008     2009         2010         2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
National
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water
 withdrawal for
 Western Canada
 Sedimentary
 Basin
 operations
 (millions
 m3/yr)          First available in 2009     23.3         23.0         20.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water as a
 percentage of
 total water
 withdrawal for
 Western Canada
 Sedimentary
 Basin
 operations (%)  First available in 2009       56%          57%          54%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water
 withdrawal per
 barrel of
 production for
 Western Canada
 Sedimentary
 Basin
 operations
 (bbl/bbl)       First available in 2009     0.87         0.86         0.72
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Per cent water
 reuse (shale
 gas, tight oil
 & gas)                    First reported in 2010            5%           5%
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Flowback/produce
 d water
 generated
 (m3/yr)                   First reported in 2010  127,648,644  146,839,047
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flowback/Produce
 d Water
 Produced
 (m3/yr)                   First reported in 2010  116,972,156  135,412,609
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Western Canada
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh Water
 Withdrawal for
 Western Canada
 Sedimentary
 Basin
 Conventional
 Oil Operations
 (millions
 m3/yr)          First available in 2009     23.3         23.0         20.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh Water as a
 Percentage of
 Total Water for
 Western Canada
 Sedimentary
 Basin
 Conventional
 Oil Operations
 (%)             First available in 2009       56%          57%          54%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh Water
 Withdrawal per
 Barrel of
 Production for
 Western Canada
 Sedimentary
 Basin
 Conventional
 Oil Operations
 (bbl/bbl)       First available in 2009     0.87         0.86         0.72
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Per cent water
 reuse (shale
 gas, tight oil
 & gas)                    First reported in 2010            4%           5%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flowback/Produce
 d Water
 Generated
 (m3/yr)                   First reported in 2010  121,629,416  143,018,036
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flowback/Produce
 d Water
 Produced
 (m3/yr)                   First reported in 2010  116,971,682  135,411,726
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oil Sands
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Fresh Water
 Withdrawal for
 in situ
 Operations
 (millions
 m3/yr)                 15.8        18.5     16.6         17.5         17.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water
 withdrawal for
 mining
 operations
 (millions
 m3/yr)                125.6       184.3    162.4        152.4        140.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water as a
 percentage of
 total water
 withdrawal for
 oil sands in
 situ operations
 (%)                      51%         56%      50%          49%          51%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water
 withdrawal per
 barrel of
 production for
 oil sands in
 situ operations
 (bbl/bbl)              0.51        0.54     0.43         0.40         0.36
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fresh water
 withdrawal per
 barrel of
 production for
 oil sands
 mining
 operations
 (bbl/bbl)               2.8         4.4      3.4          3.1          2.7
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Land Management

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                               2007       2008      2009      2010      2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
National
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Active Wells                198,604    207,595   204,198   213,991   215,220
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Inactive Wells               78,196     82,081    90,045    94,748   102,304
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Annual Well Abandonments      2,947      1,791     1,914     3,126     2,682
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Temporarily deferred
 abandoned wells                            First reported in 2011     9,788
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Abandoned Wells in
 Active
 Reclamation/Remediation     11,967     11,771    11,370    13,407    20,285
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Abandoned Wells in
 Monitoring/Assessment
 or Application               9,100      5,556     6,994    11,600     9,882
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Annual Certifications or
 Releases Received            1,482      1,821     1,505     1,709     2,007
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Western Canada
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Active Wells                189,610    197,984   194,716   203,630   204,896
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Inactive Wells               71,668     75,051    82,164    86,686    93,225
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Annual Well Abandonments      2,834      1,742     1,779     2,702     2,470
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Temporarily deferred
 abandoned wells                            First reported in 2011     8,975
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Abandoned Wells in
 Active
 Reclamation/Remediation     11,350     10,918    10,966    12,044    16,304
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Abandoned Wells in
 Monitoring/Assessment
 or Application               9,018      5,497     5,866     7,581     7,405
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Certifications or
 Releases Received            1,442      1,818     1,452     1,594     1,668
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Oil Sands
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total active footprint
 (oil sands mining)
 hectares               First reported in 2009    67,331    71,362    76,070
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total area cleared or
 disturbed (oil sands
 mining) hectares       First reported in 2009    59,814    63,820    68,383
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Total area in
 reclamation or
 reclaimed not certified
 (oil sands mining)
 hectares               First reported in 2009     7,517     7,542     7,687
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