Sturgeon-region business professionals gathered at the 2012 Regional Business Symposium last week where they heard insights into Alberta's bright economic future.
Todd Hirsch, senior economist with Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB), told the roughly 400 business people attending the symposium that Alberta would continue to be a leader in growth this year.
"There are a lot of places around the global economy that are still in serious economic hardship," he said. "Alberta, however, I think we are in an enviable position and I think we will see very good growth this year."
He said both Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan would lead the country, which would assist the economic centre to move towards western Canada.
A major reason for the province's strong economy is a result of resource wealth, particularly in the oil sector, he said.
Hirsch said he expects the province to perform well in this area as a result of growth in China and Asia.
"China has the potential to overtake the United States as an economic giant," Hirsch said. "Growth in the global economy comes from China and Asia."
As long as growth in China remains steady at the current rate of roughly seven per cent, which he predicted it would, commodity prices in Alberta will remain the same.
Resource wealth
Steady commodity prices means good news for the Sturgeon region, which is home to many resource-dependent businesses including the future North West Upgrading Inc. (NWU) upgrader.
The upgrader would be the first bitumen refinery that combines integrated carbon capture and storage with gasification technology — a combination that will reduce the overall environmental footprint.
Chairman Ian MacGregor said putting the two together was an obvious responsibility for the organization.
"We didn't think we could build the type of upgrader we wanted to build without managing CO2 emissions," he said.
The per-day emissions of the upgrader are equivalent to operating 425,000 cars.
"It's an enormous quantity of CO2. Right from the start, we thought that was a problem but we also thought it was an opportunity," he said, adding Canada's emissions account for just two per cent of the global total.
The upgrader will convert raw bitumen into diesel — a product MacGregor said is much more sellable to growing markets in China and India.
"We don't think selling raw bitumen is the way to go anymore and the reason for this is the world doesn't need more bitumen, they need more diesel fuel," he said.
Selling diesel fuel also brings in more than double the profits, he said, which means more money and security for the province.
If the upgrader was operating last year, he said the government would have received $5 million more than what it received selling raw bitumen.
"Albertans are the owners of this resource and over time, Albertans will become the largest producer," he said.
MacGregor said he expects other producers to follow in the footsteps of NWU and said Alberta will become the world-leading energy producer.
