Pathways Appoints Former MEG Energy CEO as Executive Chair

Pathways Alliance, a group of Canadian oil sands developers, has appointed former MEG Energy President and CEO Derek Evans to the role of Executive Chair.

In his stint as the leader of MEG Energy, veteral oil and gas executive Evans was closely involved in the Pathways Alliance organization serving on the Steering Committee and at the CEO table, according to a recent news release.

As Executive Chair, Evans’ main responsibilities are to provide strategic leadership to the executive team and Steering Committee; lead high-level external stakeholder engagement, including collaborations with the federal and provincial governments; and support the strategic execution of the Pathways members’ plan to reach net zero scope 1 and 2 emissions from their oil sands operations by 2050.

“Pathways Alliance is fortunate to have Derek’s continued commitment to our success as we work to decarbonize our industry,” Pathways President Kendall Dilling said. “His extensive experience in the oil sands industry spans operations through to executive strategy. Through his passion and advocacy for Pathways and strategic big picture thinking, Derek will continue to be an invaluable asset to our organization and will help advance our foundational project.”.

“This initiative is critical to me and one of the most important of my career,” Evans said. “I’m excited to continue my work with industry, to engage with government, and to represent Pathways as we continue our important work to help our country achieve a sustainable future. The Pathways foundational carbon capture and storage project is too important an initiative for me to leave unfinished”.

The Pathways Alliance is made up of Canadian Natural, Cenovus Energy, ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial, MEG Energy, and Suncor Energy. The six largest oil sands companies in Canada said they are working together and with government to help meet the national 2050 net zero goal and “deliver the world’s preferred barrel of responsibly produced oil”.

The group plans a multi-stage effort to deploy various emissions reduction technologies, including one of the world’s largest proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that would be constructed in the Cold Lake region of northeastern Alberta.  The plan is to connect multiple oil sand facilities to the CCS hub planned to be built in the Cold Lake region, where captured carbon dioxide from the facilities would be permanently sequestered. The project could cut CO2 emissions by about 10 million metric tons to 12 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) by 2030 and up to 40 MMtpa by 2050, according to the alliance.

In March, Pathways said it began filing regulatory applications with the Alberta Energy Regulator for the proposed Pathways CO2 Transportation Network and Storage Hub Project.

“The start of submissions for key regulatory applications is an important step for Pathways,” Dilling said. “Over the past two years, we have been working together to develop and prepare these applications while discussing the Project with Indigenous groups, local communities, landowners and governments. We are committed to continuing to work together to move the proposed project forward and to provide more details on this ambitious and important project”.

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