Osum Oil Sands Corp., Calgary, has received approval of its Taiga thermal heavy oil project near Bonnyville in the Cold Lake region of Alberta from the Energy Resources Conservation Board.
Approval came after Cold Lake First Nations withdrew an objection it had filed earlier.
The privately held company plans to use brackish water and recycling for steam-assisted gravity drainage and cyclic steam stimulation to develop proved plus probable reserves estimated at 359 million bbl of bitumen (OGJ Online, Feb. 23, 2012).
Development will occur in two phases for total production of 35,000 b/d. With best-estimate contingent resource of an additional 105 million bbl, the project might support production as high as 45,000 b/d, Osum says.
The company said timing of first production, earlier targeted for 2013, is under evaluation.
