Meeting:  chair, Duane Evans; music, Jerome Martin; grace, Al Holmes

 

Attendance / Guests:  32, including Ross Hallett, Art Lachance, Ron Soans, Tin Yip, Aditi Sarup & Nancy Lizotte

 

Gift Cards:  See Rob Dunseith to purchase Safeways, Sobeys and/or SaveOn cards.  By purchasing these gift cards, you help our club fund projects that cannot be funded from casino proceeds.  Thank you.

 

Ross Hallett - a former member of our club, Ross advised that his current club, Rotary Eclub of Canada 1, is hosting a fundraising lunch meal at West Edmonton Mall on February 23 at 1:00 p m.  Proceeds go to support End Polio Now.

 

Rotary International Foundation:  Chris advised that the finanial statements for our foundation show very low administration costs (only 2%).  More reason to contribute/donate for Every Rotarian Every Year

 

Meeting January 27:  Bob Lamoureux advised that this meeting will combine Robbie Burns Day (scotch) and Chinese New Year (strong Asian liquor).

 

Former Member Muggsy Forbes:  Jim Spalding advised that Muggsy had passed away and his funeral is on Tuesday. 

 

Finemaster:  Doug Sollows asked everyone to contribute more than $2 and that the entire fines collected be donated to the Edmonton Humane Society per Muggsy's request.  This raised $185.00 for the SPCA.

 

Chinese New Years Celebration:  contact Danny Chau to participate at the Chinese Parish between 4 and 6 on January 25

 

New Member Proposal:  Art Lachance has been proposed for membership by Al Holmes.

 

 

 

50/50:  Al Holmes and Bob Lamoureux did not match cards; $128 carried over.  Members should be aware that this is a fundraiser for our club.  If 30 people buy 50/50 tickets at a meeting, then $15 goes to the Club and $15 is added to the pot which will then be split 50/50 when the two winners match cards.

 

Guest Speaker:  Joe introduced Al Sanderson, past president of Edmonton West Rotary Club and Chief Assistant Deputy Minister Strategy for Alberta Energy Department.  Al  talked about Alberta Oil Access to Markets.  An update on current markets and results of exploration of access to new markets.  In the Global Oil Markets, Alberta has the third largest supply after Russia and Saudi Arabia.  However we do not produce enough to be that high in the list of producers.  Alberta Energy assumed that the USA would continue to be our largest market but, after we learned to produce oil from shale, the USA copied the procedure.  The size of the market, thus, was reduced and we had not accessed any other market.

 

In today's market, producers need  a social licence as well as a licence to produce.  The need for a social licence has emerged because of complaints that oilsand production is not environmentally beneficial. 

 

The USA market is being reduced through efficiencies in using petroleum in addition to increased USA oil production from shale.  Thus we need to sell to China and India where growth and demand will increase constantly over the next several decades.  In addition, we need to ship to Eastern Canada to offset the current need to import petroleum from the international market to keep Maritime refineries busy.  Production of petroleum will be increased as there are more than 60 development projects in existence.  Pipeline capacity for heavy oil needs to be expanded as the cost of production of petroleum finished products in Alberta is too high.  It is cheaper to export especially to the Gulf Coast as they currently have excess capacity.  The Kinder Morgan (expansion of capacity) and Northern Gateway (new) have to be approved to enable product to be shipped to the west coast to support the Asian markets.  Long shot options are to build a pipeline to the Arctic Ocean from Fort MacMurray or to use rail to ship from fort MacMurray to Alaska where the product would enter an existing American pipeline to the west coast.

 

Going east, there is the plan to change a gasoline pipeline to handle heavy oil.  Then the line would have to be lengthened to get access to the Maritime refineries.  Rail will expand its capacity to provide oil deliveries.  There are no regulatory approvals needed.  Currently there are 30 oil loading stations being built in western Canada.  8 trains per day equals another pipeline.  Gases produced are captured and utilized.  Trucks can take oil to the rail terminals.  Of 700,000 miles of piplines in Canada, 450,000 miles are in Alberta.

 

Alberta Energy has good relations with B C; Quebec; New Brunswick governments so possible expansion is imminent.  Another priority is getting the petroleum industry good news story out to the public.

 

Al was thanked by Brad.