President Lennart Meri visited the headquarters of the Suncor power corporation at Calgary, as well as the concern's oilsand mining and oil production plant at Fort McMurray on July 13, 2000.

President Meri was received by Richard George, President of the Suncor Corporation. Gary R. Purcell, the Development Manager of Suncor Energy, spoke of the enterprise, its foreign projects and also of the corporation's wish to inquire the possibilities of utilising their experience and technologies of oilsand processing in the oil shale processing in Estonia. According to Purcell, the utilisation of the ATP or the Alberta Taciuk method in Estonia would enable to increase the productivity of the oil shale and to ensure the reduction of environmental pollution.

President Meri emphasised that for Estonia, ensuring the clean environment is very important; he also mentioned that when making the research, Suncor should certainly consider also Estonia's complex geological features and the need to guarantee the purity of subsoils.

The Suncor representatives assured the Estonian President that they would first like to purchase oil shale from the Eesti Polevkivi, and to establish their own mines later when they have acquired the right for mining the mineral resources in Estonia. The Suncor representatives emphasised that their technology is suitable for producing oil from oil shale. A solution shall also be found for the environment-friendly usage of the refuse products.

President Meri also visited the plant situated at Fort McMurray, North Alberta, where he was shown the mining of oilsand and the ways of extracting oil from it. President Meri also looked at the recultivated land of the former mining areas.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, July 13, 2000

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