Canadian Natural Resources Limited (Canadian Natural) is a Canadian crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production company with a diversified portfolio of heavy, light and synthetic crude oil and natural gas. Canadian Natural’s assets include oil sands mining operations located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta: the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) and Horizon Oil Sands Mining and Upgrading (Horizon). Canadian Natural operates the Muskeg River and Jackpine mines on behalf of the AOSP owners (70% Canadian Natural, 20% Chevron Canada and 10% Shell Canada). The AOSP mines have been part of Toward Sustainable Mining reporting since 2002 and the Horizon mine since 2020.

Canadian Natural’s mission statement — “To develop people to work together to create value for the Company’s shareholders by doing it right with fun and integrity” — guides our commitment to responsible development. Health and safety, environment, asset integrity and community engagement is integrated into all aspects of our operations.

Indigenous Communities

Canadian Natural continues to work closely with 80 Indigenous communities in Western Canada who live near our operations. Engagements include direct consultation on projects and operations, interaction and collaboration through industry relations committees, and formal engagement with Indigenous communities, including Elders, community members, community advisory committees and local leaders.    

We value working with Indigenous communities and meet regularly with them to discuss issues that matter, working to build and maintain positive relationships in a meaningful way. Learning about traditional cultures, wildlife and how the landscape has changed over the years is part of our long-term commitment to these communities to further enhance our practices. For example, in our oil sands mining operations, Canadian Natural organizes Annual Stakeholder Tailings Forums with representatives from seven local Indigenous communities to share operational updates and discuss environmental programs.

A focus on Indigenous capacity development continued throughout 2021, to ensure local contracting and employment opportunities for qualified local businesses and residents. Canadian Natural awarded contracts to 144 Indigenous businesses for a total of $572 million in contracts, a 17% increase from 2020.

Community Investment

As members of the community, we recognize the importance of creating shared value as part of our commitment to responsible operations. Canadian Natural prioritizes projects that have a direct impact on people’s quality of life, and that promote long-term local economic growth and prosperity. Social investment focuses on health and wellness, education and training, social programs, cultural events, and traditional practices. In 2021, the company supported the following:

• APPLE Schools nutrition program implementation in remote areas in northern Alberta, including in Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan.
• The Traditional Celebration of Achievement, an annual event to celebrate First Nations, Métis and Inuit graduates from Fort McMurray Catholic and Public School divisions, and the Northlands School Division.
• The Northern Lights Health Foundation to purchase a transport bus for the new Willow Square Continuing Care Centre.

Safety and Environmental Performance

Safety is a core value that underlies all operational activities to reach our ultimate goal of ‘No harm to people; No safety incidents’. Our Safety Management System (SMS) is a key framework used to safeguard people, the environment and operations. Our management systems integrate personal safety, process safety and asset integrity. In 2021, Canadian Natural reduced total corporate recordable injury frequency (TRIF) by 49% since 2017.

Environmental stewardship is incorporated throughout all phases of our projects, to mitigate our impact and maintain efficient operations. We invest in technology and innovation, and collaborate with industry to improve our environmental performance. Canadian Natural’s oil sands mining operations follow the principles of the ISO 14001: 2015, a framework that fosters an effective and robust environmental management system.

Highlights of our 2021 performance in oil sands mining include the following:

• 29% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity from 2017 to 2021
• 48% reduction in fresh river water use intensity from 2017 baseline
• Over 2.8 million trees planted and 1,600 hectares of land reclaimed since 2017

Canadian Natural is committed to reducing GHG emissions with a long-term aspirational target of net zero emissions in our oil sands operations. In 2022, Canadian Natural announced a new mid-term target: 40% reduction in total corporate absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 2035, from a 2020 baseline. We are focused on advancements in technologies and ongoing investment in carbon capture initiatives to reduce emissions.

Our state-of-the-art carbon reduction technologies, includes CO₂ capture capacity facilities at Horizon where CO₂ is used as part of our tailings management process. As part of AOSP, the successful operation of the Quest Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) project is a significant Canadian GHG emissions reduction initiative. The Quest CCS project, launched in 2015 in Alberta, has captured and safely stored 7 million tonnes of CO₂ from the Scotford Upgrader in 2022.

Quest is the first CCS project in the oil sands and serves as a model for advancing and deploying more CCS facilities in other industrial settings worldwide. CCS projects, such as at Horizon and Quest, moves Canadian oil sands products along a pathway to be below the average emissions of North American crude oil.

In 2021, Canadian Natural, along with Canada’s other largest oil sands producers (representing 95% of Canada’s oil sands production), formed the Pathways Alliance to work collectively with the Federal and Alberta governments to achieve net zero GHG emissions from oil sands operations by 2050 to help Canada meet its climate goals.

• Pathways phase 1 plan will reduce CO₂ emissions by ~22 million tonnes CO₂e per year by 2030. Emission reductions will come from carbon capture and storage technologies, as well as other decarbonization projects, such as the uses of solvents, energy efficiency, cogeneration and electrification.
• The Pathways vision is anchored by a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) system and transportation line connecting oil sands facilities to a carbon storage hub near Cold Lake. The CCS project will capture and store 10 million tonnes CO₂e per year by 2030.

Canadian Natural is continuously improving our tailings management practices. We are advancing technologies to increase water recycling and improve tailings consolidation over time, to ultimately accelerate the reclamation process. These technologies include:

• The In-Pit Extraction Process (IPEP) at Horizon that uses a relocatable, modular extraction plant to process ore and separate bitumen in the mine pit, potentially reducing GHG emissions by up to 40% by reducing materials transportation by truck, pipeline length and energy required to pump material. Additionally, IPEP would eliminate the need for future fluid tailings (FT) ponds through the production of stackable dry tailings.
• Thickeners and centrifugation to help remove water from FT at AOSP.
• Atmospheric Fines Drying technology to help settle solids in the FT at AOSP.
• Filter press technology at AOSP that uses a mechanical filter to press FT, producing water for recycling and dewatered solids suitable for reclamation material in only a few hours.

Collaboration

As a founding member of Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), now part of the Pathways Alliance, Canadian Natural is collaborating to accelerate improvements in environmental performance through technology and innovation. Working together with industry to leverage technical expertise and conduct research helps to identify and implement solutions more cost effectively and efficiently. COSIA members strive to improve performance in four main areas: GHG emissions, land, water and tailings.

TSM Performance

The AOSP mines (Muskeg River and Jackpine) have a well-established record of TSM reporting. AOSP management programs are reviewed, tested and documented, and continue to maintain high standards under the TSM Protocols of Crisis Management and Communications Planning, Indigenous and Community Outreach, Tailings Management and Biodiversity. The Horizon mine conducted its first audit of TSM reporting in 2021.

Environment and Stakeholder teams continue to proactively inform stakeholders about environmental performance through engagement meetings and Canadian Natural’s Annual Stewardship Report to Stakeholders.

For more information, please visit www.cnrl.com