The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has stated that it is successfully overcoming a number of environmental challenges as it awarded notable achievements in the sector this week.

For the third year in succession, the professional body used the opportunity of its annual Steward of Excellence Awards to recognise innovation and ongoing commitment to environment issues, corporate social responsibility and health and safety training.

Notably, Petro-Canada took home an award from the Calgary event for successfully bringing into operation a thermal oilsands project which produces steam from deep-aquifer saline water rather than fresh water supplies.

Likewise, Chevron Canada Resources was recognised for significant improvements in health and safety standards among employees, while Imperial Oil was praised for the social responsibility achievements of its Cold Lake heavy oil project and Native Internship Programme.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, CAPP president Pierre Alvarez stated: "This is an industry that has many challenges but we're driving forward to deal with them.

"Credibility is about people knowing what you are doing and understanding what your goals are. This is a way for us to show that one of our goals is continuous improvement in areas of environment, social responsibility, and health and safety."