Story by Bryan Passifiume • POSTMEDIA
Pictured is Suncor Energy C.entre building in downtown Calgary on Oct. 2, 2020© Provided by National Post
The head of one of Canada’s largest energy companies was grilled by the House natural resources committee on Monday after comments he made to investors that his company needed to rebalance more towards oil production.
However, NDP natural resources critic Charlie Angus, who tabled the motion demanding Suncor CEO Rich Kruger appear before the committee, opted for questions about wildfires, carbon emissions and climate.
Angus opened by asking Kruger if he shared the belief that Canada’s intense wildfire summer was “catastrophic,” and the MP became incensed when the CEO opted to use the word “tragic” instead.
“Global energy, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are complex issues that are important to our society,” Kruger told Angus.
“We all have a role in it — whether that’s government, whether that’s industry, or whether that’s society. I share your passion and concern over the topic, but I don’t think it’s a (question of) ‘what fraction is one party versus the other?'” he said.
Angus pressed on, demanding Kruger provide context to what he described as internal scientific documents produced by ExxonMobil from the 1980s warning of potential “catastrophic” events from global warming connected to fossil fuel use. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its latest report did not make a conclusive link between increased wildfires and climate change.
“What are the legal liabilities that your company and your involvement is, for having suppressed that scientific evidence that its not just ‘we’re all part of this,’ that you knew, scientifically, that what you were doing was destabilizing the planet?” Angus asked.
CEO and president of Suncor Energy was photographed at the Suncor office building in downtown Calgary on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.© Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia
Krugers said he’d previously worked at ExxonMobil for 31 years in a number or roles around the world but said he had no say in strategy or research, and suggested Angus reach out to that company if he had questions over their past climate policy.
Angus’s line of questioning prompted an objection by fellow committee member Shannon Stubbs, a Conservative MP, who questioned why the committee was grilling Suncor’s CEO over documents supposedly drafted by Exxon when she was still in high school.
Unabated, Angus continued grilling Kruger over ExxonMobil’s previous statements on climate change, asking if the oil and gas industry is at a higher risk of lawsuits for a lack of action on the risks of fossil fuels.
Kruger reiterated that he hasn’t worked at Exxon since the 2010s.
“If you want to talk about Exxon, I’m no longer the one to talk about it,” Kruger said.
“Can you talk about Suncor, and that you’re being sued?” Angus asked.
“That’s actually why I thought I came here today,” Kruger replied.
Angus countered that it’s a matter of liability.
“Do you not have an obligation to make sure that the public is aware of the risks and liabilities of further investments, and the damage that’s being done to the planet that your industry has known about since the beginning?” Angus managed to ask before his allotted time ran out.
Angus deferred his second-round questions to committee member and Alberta NDP MP Heather McPherson.
Monday’s appearance came just days after Canada’s Supreme Court struck down the federal government’s Impact Assessment Act as unconstitutional which would have allowed Ottawa to assess projects based on a much wider set of considerations than the previous regulatory regime, such as downstream emissions, gender-impact analyses and traditional Indigenous knowledge.
Kruger, who replaced interim Suncor CEO Kris Smith earlier this year , came to the company after a six-year stint as head of Imperial Oil.
Before that, he was vice president of operations with ExxonMobil, spending just shy of four decades with that company.
During his first conference call in May, Kruger promised to make the Calgary-based energy company “simpler” and “more focused.”
In August, Kruger said Suncor was too focused on energy transition and planned instead to return his company’s focus on oil — something the company had already hinted at after divesting its wind and solar assets in 2022 for $730 million.
“We judge that our current strategic framework is not insufficient in terms of what it takes to win,” Kruger remarked during a conference call in August.
“The lack of emphasis on today’s business drivers and while important, we have a bit of a disproportionate emphasis on the longer-term energy transition.”
Those words fuelled pointed comment from Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, calling Kruger’s comments disappointing.
New Suncor CEO Kruger focused on cost-cutting, will 'play to win'
“To see the leader of a great Canadian company say that he is basically disengaging from climate change and sustainability, that he’s going to focus on short-term profit, it’s all the wrong answers,” Guilbeault said in August.
In an interview last month with The Canadian Press, Angus went further, demanding Kruger appear before the committee to “explain why they’re refusing to accept responsibility” for Canada’s climate crisis.
“We’ve had thousands of people displaced, millions of hectares of forest destroyed, large sections of North America covered in toxic smoke,” Angus said in September.
“And as everyone was talking about the urgency of dealing with this, we have Mr. Kruger saying the only urgency he sees is making as much money as possible.”
Kruger clarified his comments in an August op-ed published in the Calgary Herald , saying that Suncor is still committed to long-term sustainability and being “part of the solution” as the world’s energy needs change.
Kruger told the committee that position hasn’t changed, explaining that the intent of his comments was to build a strong company to ensure a stronger future tomorrow.
“My comments on our earnings call looked at our company and said, ‘for us to be a part of the solution for the long term, we have to do today’s business very well,” he said.
“If you look back at the track record over the past several years at Suncor, that can’t be said. We have opportunities to improve the safety and operational integrity of business, so that we can continue our decarbonization efforts and being part of the transition for the longer term.”
When asked by committee member Julie Dabrusin why Suncor no longer has a chief sustainability officer, Kruger said that was an incorrect statement
“She’s sitting right next to me,” he said, indicating Suncor executive Arlene Strom, sitting to Kruger’s right.
“My understanding is that position is not going to continue, am I correct?” she asked.
“No, that is not correct,” he said, putting his arm around a grinning Strom, explaining that while she is indeed at the cusp of retirement, the position will continue under a new person she’s actively mentoring.
Despite moves to shift the country away entirely from oil and gas, global forecasts predict the sector to remain a vital part of Canada’s energy makeup for years to come, Kruger said.
“Therein lies the dilemma — effectively and affordably decarbonizing the oil and gas sector, not eliminating it,” he told the committee.
“With among the world’s largest reserves, Canada has a major opportunity to lead and proper by providing low-carbon oil and gas, both home and abroad.”
He said Canadian oil and gas is a much more desirable and beneficial than that produced by nearly every other country — but said the industry needs a “shared vision” of public policy support, competitive investment, technological advancement, and sound leadership.
“In other words, a collective effort is required between government, industry and society,” he said.
— With files from the Canadian Press
• Email: bpassifiume@postmedia.com | X: @bryanpassifiume
Suncor CEO says company committed to decarbonization, is accused of greenwashing
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Suncor remains totally committed to eliminating its carbon footprint in less than three decades, the company's CEO said Monday on Parliament Hill.
But Rich Kruger was accused by some MPs of greenwashing his industry's efforts to address climate change, including after he said he hadn't yet read in detail the fine print on new federal regulations to cut emissions from gasoline and diesel.
The regulations took effect July 1, requiring gasoline and diesel producers and importers to offset their emissions through various investments, such as replacing power sources at oil extraction sites with renewable or lower-emitting energy, investing in the production of biofuels like ethanol or investing in electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
Bloc Québécois MP Mario Simard tried to have Kruger explain the cost the new clean fuel regulations will have on his company, whether those costs will be passed on to consumers and how they compare to Suncor's main climate investment of installing a carbon capture and storage system.
"I've not studied the regulation in my six months in the job here," said Kruger.
Simard scoffed at the idea, saying in French that either Kruger didn't really care about climate change enough to pay attention to the regulations, or he was a bad manager.
Kruger pushed back to say that he was aware of the regulations he just hadn't looked at them in detail. He also said the company was meeting them as required.
The early stages of the regulations have a limited impact on most companies, which were already doing enough to meet them. They become more stringent each year through to 2030.
Following the meeting, NDP MP Charlie Angus said he simply doesn't believe Kruger doesn't know the cost of the regulations.
"Someone in Mr. Kruger's capacity, who has been top dog in some of the biggest oil firms in the world, knows what's going on in the industry," said Angus.
"And this is a major battle zone right now between the provincial government in Alberta, where he's based, and the federal government. It will have implications for us meeting our climate targets. And he hasn't read them? It's it's simply not believable."
Kruger was at the House of Commons natural resources committee to explain comments he made to shareholders in August about reducing his company's emphasis on the transition to lower-emitting energy sources.
Kruger said his comments were misinterpreted as Suncor ending its commitment to curbing its carbon footprint, when the focus is really on ensuring the company is making profits now to be able to afford the required investments in decarbonization.
He said it's about making sure the company is healthy both now and in the future, and only investing in areas where the company can be competitive.
"Our commitments on being part of the transition have not changed," he said.
The company sold off its solar and wind power assets last year before Kruger took over as CEO. But he said Suncor is investing in clean fuels with its large ethanol plant in St. Clair, Alta., and with plans to build carbon capture.
He said last year the company invested $540 million in decarbonization efforts.
Suncor is part of the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of oilsands companies joining together to invest in carbon capture. The technology has been in limited use to date but is a critical part of Canada's emissions targets.
Liberal MP John Aldag said Suncor's planning sounds like a company trying to pump out as much oil as it can while it still can.
"It seems like you're trying to get every last dollar out of that oil and gas sector," he said.
Kruger said the fact is that oil and gas will remain part of world energy sources for decades to come and even if Canada produces less oil, that doesn't mean the world will consume less oil.
"The question for me is where the investment will be made," he said.
"I think oil and gas has a long life ahead of it, it's how we do it that will make it more socially acceptable."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2023.
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Suncor remains totally committed to eliminating its carbon footprint in less than three decades, the company's CEO said Monday on Parliament Hill.
But Rich Kruger was accused by some MPs of greenwashing his industry's efforts to address climate change, including after he said he hadn't yet read in detail the fine print on new federal regulations to cut emissions from gasoline and diesel.
The regulations took effect July 1, requiring gasoline and diesel producers and importers to offset their emissions through various investments, such as replacing power sources at oil extraction sites with renewable or lower-emitting energy, investing in the production of biofuels like ethanol or investing in electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
Bloc Québécois MP Mario Simard tried to have Kruger explain the cost the new clean fuel regulations will have on his company, whether those costs will be passed on to consumers and how they compare to Suncor's main climate investment of installing a carbon capture and storage system.
"I've not studied the regulation in my six months in the job here," said Kruger.
Simard scoffed at the idea, saying in French that either Kruger didn't really care about climate change enough to pay attention to the regulations, or he was a bad manager.
Kruger pushed back to say that he was aware of the regulations he just hadn't looked at them in detail. He also said the company was meeting them as required.
The early stages of the regulations have a limited impact on most companies, which were already doing enough to meet them. They become more stringent each year through to 2030.
Following the meeting, NDP MP Charlie Angus said he simply doesn't believe Kruger doesn't know the cost of the regulations.
"Someone in Mr. Kruger's capacity, who has been top dog in some of the biggest oil firms in the world, knows what's going on in the industry," said Angus.
"And this is a major battle zone right now between the provincial government in Alberta, where he's based, and the federal government. It will have implications for us meeting our climate targets. And he hasn't read them? It's it's simply not believable."
Kruger was at the House of Commons natural resources committee to explain comments he made to shareholders in August about reducing his company's emphasis on the transition to lower-emitting energy sources.
Kruger said his comments were misinterpreted as Suncor ending its commitment to curbing its carbon footprint, when the focus is really on ensuring the company is making profits now to be able to afford the required investments in decarbonization.
He said it's about making sure the company is healthy both now and in the future, and only investing in areas where the company can be competitive.
"Our commitments on being part of the transition have not changed," he said.
The company sold off its solar and wind power assets last year before Kruger took over as CEO. But he said Suncor is investing in clean fuels with its large ethanol plant in St. Clair, Alta., and with plans to build carbon capture.
He said last year the company invested $540 million in decarbonization efforts.
Suncor is part of the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of oilsands companies joining together to invest in carbon capture. The technology has been in limited use to date but is a critical part of Canada's emissions targets.
Liberal MP John Aldag said Suncor's planning sounds like a company trying to pump out as much oil as it can while it still can.
"It seems like you're trying to get every last dollar out of that oil and gas sector," he said.
Kruger said the fact is that oil and gas will remain part of world energy sources for decades to come and even if Canada produces less oil, that doesn't mean the world will consume less oil.
"The question for me is where the investment will be made," he said.
"I think oil and gas has a long life ahead of it, it's how we do it that will make it more socially acceptable."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2023.
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
BELL: DANIELLE SMITH OTTAWA DOES NOT WANT YOU
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, speaking at a press conference in Calgary on Friday, October 13, 2023, comments on the Supreme Court finding the federal environmental impact assessment law unconstitutional.© Provided by Calgary Sun
Premier Danielle Smith isn’t in Ottawa today.
Her plane ticket was booked. She wanted to be there. The premier actually thought she would be there.
She was ready to mix it up with the House of Commons crowd, the good, the bad and the ugly in their ranks.
Fresh from the Supreme Court of Canada handing Alberta two points on the environment, Smith is clearly on offence.
She talks openly about bringing in the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act and telling the federal government to take a hike.
Without concessions from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Alberta government is more than willing to go to the wall over Ottawa’s brainwave to cap emissions in the oilpatch and somehow get to net-zero emissions electricity in a dozen years.
Some Smith supporters figure the meme FAFO summarizes the situation they’re in with Trudeau’s Ottawa.
But the trip to Ottawa was not to be.
In Ottawa the story was like a soap opera episode of As the World Turns.
Follow the bouncing ball.
Two Smith cabinet ministers, Brian Jean and Nathan Neudorf, are invited by a committee of members of parliament “given the urgency of the climate crisis.”
At the same meeting, Rich Kruger, Suncor number one, was also on the invite list, called on the carpet to “explain why his company is abandoning its climate targets that had been previously laid out in the face of a climate emergency.”
Premier Smith decided she would go to Ottawa instead of her cabinet ministers to speak on behalf of the Alberta government.
She wanted to talk about the Trudeau government’s “often misleading information” about their proposed clean electricity rules.
A couple of days later, Smith was told to forget about Ottawa. The committee would not go ahead as planned.
Suncor’s Kruger couldn’t attend because of a scheduling conflict and many on the committee really wanted to go a few rounds with the oilman.
The all-party committee — with a solid majority from the Liberals, Bloc and NDP — was also “very specific” in their invitations. They wanted Jean and Neudorf.
Period. Full stop. Alberta cabinet ministers could not be substituted for the premier.
Smith was out.
Suncor CEO says company committed to decarbonization, is accused of greenwashing
Bell: Alberta sovereignty act a go unless Trudeau blinks quickly
Liberal MP Chahal denounces premier's Tell the Feds campaign as 'misinformation'
Not Smith, where there would likely have been fireworks.
Not Smith, where she would score some free air time on the national stage.
Not Smith, where these days she would like nothing better to debate the critics.
Smith is told if she wants to appear at the committee, and she does, the majority of the committee would have to give the thumbs-up, a group where Conservatives are the minority.
By the way, this collection of politicians still have a meeting Tuesday but it’s a briefing with the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
Oh joy.
But wait …
On Monday, Suncor’s top gun is at another gaggle of politicians headed up by none other than George Chahal.
Smith would have been willing to appear before that group as well.
Chahal is the former Calgary city councillor and now Liberal MP who raked Smith over the coals at a recent Calgary press conference accusing the premier of spreading misinformation, fear-mongering and making wild claims about the Trudeau government’s plan for electricity.
Chahal has been upping his game, no doubt earning points with his boss.
He is an Alberta member of parliament saying the Alberta premier is full of it.
Federal Liberal MP for Calgary Skyview George Chahal speaks to media at a press conference where he called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to come clean about her new energy campaign Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
As for Smith not getting in her two cents in Ottawa, Chahal says the difference between being invited and uninvited is “like the difference between a clean grid that works (our plan) and a fossil fuel-free grid with blackouts (UCP fever dream).”
At the Chahal-chaired to-and-fro on Monday, Liberal, Bloc and NDP members of parliament grill the Suncor oilman about his company and the oilpatch making huge profits while, in the words of an Alberta NDP MP, “boiling the planet.”
The Suncor boss said his comments were taken the wrong way and his company is looking to get to net-zero emissions by 2050 while adding “oil and gas has a long life ahead of it.”
At the end of Kruger’s time on the firing line, Alberta Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs couldn’t resist rubbing salt in the wound going on about Alberta’s Bill C-69 win against the federal government , a victory the Trudeau team see as no big deal.
UCP types these days see a Liberal government they feel is running scared, a basement dweller in the polls where Smith in Ottawa would potentially score more points for her than for them.
Smith says if there are any more meetings in Ottawa her bags are packed.
A little advice. Don’t wait by the phone.
rbell@postmedia.com
RICK BELL
CALGARY SUN
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, speaking at a press conference in Calgary on Friday, October 13, 2023, comments on the Supreme Court finding the federal environmental impact assessment law unconstitutional.© Provided by Calgary Sun
Premier Danielle Smith isn’t in Ottawa today.
Her plane ticket was booked. She wanted to be there. The premier actually thought she would be there.
She was ready to mix it up with the House of Commons crowd, the good, the bad and the ugly in their ranks.
Fresh from the Supreme Court of Canada handing Alberta two points on the environment, Smith is clearly on offence.
She talks openly about bringing in the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act and telling the federal government to take a hike.
Without concessions from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Alberta government is more than willing to go to the wall over Ottawa’s brainwave to cap emissions in the oilpatch and somehow get to net-zero emissions electricity in a dozen years.
Some Smith supporters figure the meme FAFO summarizes the situation they’re in with Trudeau’s Ottawa.
But the trip to Ottawa was not to be.
In Ottawa the story was like a soap opera episode of As the World Turns.
Follow the bouncing ball.
Two Smith cabinet ministers, Brian Jean and Nathan Neudorf, are invited by a committee of members of parliament “given the urgency of the climate crisis.”
At the same meeting, Rich Kruger, Suncor number one, was also on the invite list, called on the carpet to “explain why his company is abandoning its climate targets that had been previously laid out in the face of a climate emergency.”
Premier Smith decided she would go to Ottawa instead of her cabinet ministers to speak on behalf of the Alberta government.
She wanted to talk about the Trudeau government’s “often misleading information” about their proposed clean electricity rules.
A couple of days later, Smith was told to forget about Ottawa. The committee would not go ahead as planned.
Suncor’s Kruger couldn’t attend because of a scheduling conflict and many on the committee really wanted to go a few rounds with the oilman.
The all-party committee — with a solid majority from the Liberals, Bloc and NDP — was also “very specific” in their invitations. They wanted Jean and Neudorf.
Period. Full stop. Alberta cabinet ministers could not be substituted for the premier.
Smith was out.
Suncor CEO says company committed to decarbonization, is accused of greenwashing
Bell: Alberta sovereignty act a go unless Trudeau blinks quickly
Liberal MP Chahal denounces premier's Tell the Feds campaign as 'misinformation'
Not Smith, where there would likely have been fireworks.
Not Smith, where she would score some free air time on the national stage.
Not Smith, where these days she would like nothing better to debate the critics.
Smith is told if she wants to appear at the committee, and she does, the majority of the committee would have to give the thumbs-up, a group where Conservatives are the minority.
By the way, this collection of politicians still have a meeting Tuesday but it’s a briefing with the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
Oh joy.
But wait …
On Monday, Suncor’s top gun is at another gaggle of politicians headed up by none other than George Chahal.
Smith would have been willing to appear before that group as well.
Chahal is the former Calgary city councillor and now Liberal MP who raked Smith over the coals at a recent Calgary press conference accusing the premier of spreading misinformation, fear-mongering and making wild claims about the Trudeau government’s plan for electricity.
Chahal has been upping his game, no doubt earning points with his boss.
He is an Alberta member of parliament saying the Alberta premier is full of it.
Federal Liberal MP for Calgary Skyview George Chahal speaks to media at a press conference where he called on Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to come clean about her new energy campaign Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
As for Smith not getting in her two cents in Ottawa, Chahal says the difference between being invited and uninvited is “like the difference between a clean grid that works (our plan) and a fossil fuel-free grid with blackouts (UCP fever dream).”
At the Chahal-chaired to-and-fro on Monday, Liberal, Bloc and NDP members of parliament grill the Suncor oilman about his company and the oilpatch making huge profits while, in the words of an Alberta NDP MP, “boiling the planet.”
The Suncor boss said his comments were taken the wrong way and his company is looking to get to net-zero emissions by 2050 while adding “oil and gas has a long life ahead of it.”
At the end of Kruger’s time on the firing line, Alberta Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs couldn’t resist rubbing salt in the wound going on about Alberta’s Bill C-69 win against the federal government , a victory the Trudeau team see as no big deal.
UCP types these days see a Liberal government they feel is running scared, a basement dweller in the polls where Smith in Ottawa would potentially score more points for her than for them.
Smith says if there are any more meetings in Ottawa her bags are packed.
A little advice. Don’t wait by the phone.
rbell@postmedia.com
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