This is an excerpt from the latest report from Canwest News Service dated February 24, 2010
Two of the largest oilsands players in Canada – Syncrude and Imperial Oil have both made public announcements that they are planning for major production increases over the next few years.
Syncrude said production is expected to reach 425,000 barrels a day by the end of this decade, a 21-per-cent increase that will allow it to move into making other types of crude blends for market, including heavy and sour blends, in addition to the current light sweet crude production.
Canadian Oil Sands Trust, syncrude’s owner, said the production growth will be possible because of “latent capacity” at the Mildred Lake upgrading facility. The capacity can be unlocked with a series of projects to ease bottlenecks, officials said.
Meanwhile, Imperial Oil plans to extend production at its Cold Lake oilsands play by several decades. It expects regulatory approval by the end of June for a 20-per-cent expansion of output, spokesman Pius Rolheiser said.
To fill its capacity, Syncrude will use bitumen from the Aurora South mine, currently undeveloped. Construction is expected to start in 2012, with production starting by the end of 2016. The mine is expected to fill the Mildred Lake upgrader’s capacity, as well as generate 115,000 barrels of excess bitumen.