Documents show the federal government considers environmental and aboriginal groups "adversaries" when it comes to the oilsands.

The documents, obtained under access legislation, were released by Greenpeace.

They appear to record a strategy developed by federal bureaucrats and industry officials to improve the image of the oilsands in Europe.

The documents come days after reports that an official from the Prime Minister's Office threatened a charitable funding agency over its support for a group fighting the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline to the West Coast.

That group, ForestEthics, is now standing behind those allegations.