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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUGUST 2014
A
LWAYS EVOLV ING, CENO -
VUS
Energy has been operat-
ing successfully in Canada’s oil sands
to the benefit of shareholders, employ-
ees, and local communities.
CIO spoke with the Cenovus
team to learn more about the compa-
ny’s operations and Canadian produc-
tion in the oil sands.
What are Cenovus’ key projects
right now?
Our oil sands projects in north-
ern Alberta use specialized methods
to drill and pump the oil to the sur-
face. We have two producing oil sands
projects: Foster Creek, which has the
capacity to produce 120,000 barrels
of oil per day (bbls/d) and Christina
Lake, which has the capacity to pro-
duce 138,000 bbls/d. We believe each
of these projects could ultimately pro-
duce about 310,000 bbls/d.
We also have three emerging oil
sands projects. Narrows Lake is our
next project, which is currently un-
der construction. We expect Narrows
Lake could ultimately produce 130,000
bbls/d. We plan to develop Narrows
Lake in phases, similar to Foster Creek
and Christina Lake, and expect the ini-
tial phase to have a production capac-
ity of 45,000 bbls/d.
Narrows Lake is unique because
it’s expected to be the industry’s first
project to demonstrate solvent aided
process (SAP) on a commercial scale.
The process, which involves injecting
butane with steam into the reservoir, is
one of the advancements we use to im-
prove the recovery of oil and improve
our environmental performance. Us-
ing a solvent, like butane, reduces the
amount of steam required to produce
one barrel of
oil (commonly
referred to as
‘
steam to oil ra-
tio’, or SOR). A
low SOR allows
us to grow and sustain production
with comparatively smaller plants and
lower energy usage and emissions, all
of which result in a smaller environ-
mental footprint.
Another emerging project is our
Grand Rapids oil sands development,
which we expect will have the capacity
to produce 180,000 bbls/d. We’ve re-
ceived regulatory approval for Grand
Rapids and are moving forward with
an initial phase, which is expected
to produce between 8,000 and 10,000
bbls/d.
Another one
of our emerg-
ing projects is
Telephone Lake.
We’re currently
awaiting regulatory approval for a
90,000
bbls/d project, which we expect
to receive later this year. Cenovus be-
lieves Telephone Lake has the potential
to produce more than 300,000 bbls/d.
“
We also have three emerging oil
sands projects. Narrows Lake is
our next project”
CENOVUS ENERGY
