Oil Sands Question and Response (OSQAR) Blog

Oil sands: A different perspective

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Now here’s something you don’t see every day: oil sands from space! Using a series of satellite images, NASA allows us to get a bird’s-eye view of how the Athabasca oil sands region has changed since 1984.

Fort McMurray: a diamond in the making

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As part of OSQAR’s 100th edition milestone celebration, we asked Suncor employees to share with us their views and ideas on oil sands development. 

How can oil sands operators become better neighbours to caribou?

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One of the oil sands industry’s most pressing concerns is its impact on woodland caribou herds. As an iconic Canadian species, and something of a bellwether for boreal forest health, we all want to see caribou thrive. 

Seeing the forest AND the trees

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Location, location, location — it’s as important for oil sands developers as it is for other businesses. For Suncor and its industry peers, the sought-after real estate is within the 142,200 square kilometres of land that lies atop Alberta’s oil sands.

Let's talk about the bear in the room

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We’ve mentioned before that we enjoy hosting visitors at our oil sands operations. Typically our guests are business, government or tourist groups but, on occasion, we also welcome visitors of the hairy, four-legged variety.

'Twas the night before Christmas: A Suncor parody

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(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the site,
The conveyor belts were whirring, all through the night.
The hard hats were hung in the lunch room with care,
In hopes that the bus back to town would soon be there.

Helping to see the forest through the trees

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The company is already well known for aiding billions of people in finding anything imaginable. From the name of the kid who played Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch (Robbie Rist) to immersive directions (complete with photos) to a café at the other end of the planet, Google has helped.  

The importance of caribou: more than just spare change

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We’ve all touched caribou...and they’ve touched us. After all, this iconic ungulate appears on every single one of the millions of quarters that trade across the country daily. In fact, the caribou has adorned the Canadian 25-cent piece for three quarters of a century.

Seeing the forest for the trees

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With this year being the UN International Year of Forests (see UN Forests 2011), we thought it would be appropriate to look at oil sands development’s impact on Alberta’s boreal forest.  (2011 also happens to be the Year of the Rabbit, but try as we might, we can’t yet think of a good reason to talk about small, fluffy creatures).