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Petro-Canada flexes production muscle



By Upstream staff 

Petro-Canada said it expects to make two major spending decisions this year to triple its oil sands production by 2010-2012.

According to vice president Brant Sangster, the company will decide over the next six months on the site of a second steam-driven oil sands project to hike production by up to 40,000 barrels per day.

The project could mean an investment of $570 million to $650 million.

Petro-Canada said it aims to produce about 150,000 bpd of oil sands in five to seven years, up from an expected 52,000 this year.

The increase would accompany a $2.1 billion conversion of its Edmonton, Alberta, refinery to shift the feedstock to crude wrung from oil sands.

At Fort Hills, in which Petro-Canada bought a 60% stake in March, the partners said they are in talks to decide on the scale of a second development.

The larger project would entail building a plant to upgrade oil sands into refinery-ready light oil for first production in 2009, Sangster said.

"We're talking to the (Alberta) Department of Energy before making that change. They have to agree with it," he said. "Ultimately, production of 190,000 bpd has been approved there, so that expansion will come in one or two steps."

Petro-Canada also holds a 12% stake in the Syncrude Canada joint venture, which is currently undergoing an expansion that should be complete by next year, boosting the company's share of output from 28,000 bpd to 43,000.


Wednesday, 29 June, 2005, 21:06 GMT  | last updated: Wednesday, 29 June, 2005, 21:18 GMT

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