Canada sees chance EU won’t say oilsands dirty

OTTAWA - Canada thinks there is a good chance the European Union will back away from a move to classify crude oil from the tar sands as being particularly dirty, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Tuesday.

As part of a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions the EU’s executive Commission has approved including crude from the Alberta oil sands in a proposed fuel quality directive, thereby allowing suppliers to identify the most carbon-intensive options.

Oliver - saying he was “very concerned” by the decision - insisted that a move to single out oil sands crude made no sense from a scientific point of view and would concern European firms who have invested heavily in the industry.

“We definitely don’t think we’ve lost ... there’s a good chance because we believe science is on our side,” he told Reuters in an interview, shortly before flying to Europe to press home the Canadian government’s message.

“This is far from over.”

The EU proposal must be approved by separate votes of European officials and lawmakers before coming into force.

Environmentalists welcomed the move on the grounds that the process to extract the heavy crude from the oil sands is particularly energy-intensive.