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Under attack by a major French energy company over the slow pace of energy project approvals, Alberta's Energy Minister said the province is working to change the way it gives the green light to some oil sands projects.

It currently takes three years to gain approval for a new oil sands project that uses wells to extract bitumen; it's five for mines, Jean-Michel Gires, chief executive officer of Total E&P Canada, said Thursday.

"Why do we need five years to get regulatory approval for a new mine? It's pretty difficult to understand," he told the TD Newcrest Unconventional Oil & Gas Forum in Calgary.

But Environment Minister Rob Renner said the province is working to dramatically change how non-mining projects are approved. Currently, any oil sands project - those using wells, also known as in situ, and those using mines - must go through an environmental impact assessment, a massive filing that is both costly and time-consuming.

The province is working to change that requirement, Mr. Renner said Thursday.

"What we need to do is avoid the duplication of having huge environmental impact assessments," given that on in-situ projects, "90 per cent is virtually the same for every project," he said. Companies drilling for non-oil sands oil currently go through an approvals process that sets out a "code of practice" but applies less scrutiny to individual projects. Industry has pushed for a similar requirement for in-situ oil sands activity.

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