Hi Nathan,

This is Travis at CAPP, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. We run this website and discussion forum on behalf of a group of major oil sands producing companies. Thanks for your question.

Who you should contact depends on the nature of your ideas, how developed they are, and whether you’re talking about mining or in situ oil sands production. Here are some general ideas for you.

First, you might be interested in a discussion from last year in this same forum: http://www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/forum/topic.aspx?id=56#post271. One of our participants asked a question of Suncor CEO Rick George, with a specific technology suggestion. He received the following reply from Brad at Suncor: “Could I ask you to send your contact information to Suncor via the info@suncor.com mailbox. As you know this industry is all about harnessing technology to improve our operational and environmental performance. New ideas are always welcome.”

Suncor is both a mining and an in situ producer. Depending on what sort of technology you are proposing, your ideas might also be of interest to the following companies:

Syncrude: http://www.syncrude.ca/users/folder.asp?FolderID=5676

Shell Canada: http://www.shell.ca/home/content/can-en/footer/contact_us/

Canadian Natural Resources: http://www.cnrl.com/contacts-and-locations.html

Nexen: http://www.nexeninc.com/Contact_Us.asp

Both the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada also have programs that support commercialization of promising technology. In Alberta, there is a program called “Alberta Innovates – Connector Service” that might help: http://albertainnovates.ca/connector/introduction.

For the federal government, the National Research Council’s “Industrial Research Assistance Program” is likely the most relevant to you: http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/irap.html.

Thank you again for your interest, and good luck pursuing your ideas.