Imperial Oil Company said earlier this year that it plans a C$1-billion expansion of its oil sands operations at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada.
It filed a preliminary disclosure document with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Environment.
The expansion would develop an extra 30,000 barrels per day of bitumen from three new production phases (Phases 14, 15, 16) in a new operating area known as Nabiye, which will add 250 million barrels of net proved reserves at Cold Lake.
It will also extend Phases 9 and 10 of the existing Mahihkan operations to an area known as Mahihkan North, adding another 125 million barrels of reserves over the life of the development.
Imperial said it would make formal applications by the end of the year, and assuming the agencies approve them quickly and market conditions remain favorable, Mahihkan North could begin production in 2005 and Nabiye in 2006.
Imperial said the expansions, along with the current development of Phases 11, 12 and 13 in an area known as Mahkeses, would bring total production to about 180,000 barrels per day by the end of the decade.
Nabiye would require some wells, associated field facilities, and a plant to generate steam, process bitumen, and treat water.
The Mahihkan North extension would require 600 new wells and other facilities over 5 to 10 years.
Return to Synthetic Fuels Report 8-2 table of contents