By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 9 -- Deliveries of bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands project (AOSP)—the first new fully integrated oil sands project in 25 years, which started up Dec. 29 (OGJ Online, Dec. 31, 2002)—have been delayed following a brief fire Jan. 6 at the Muskeg River mine 75 km north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
The fire, which occurred when a hydrocarbon leak ignited in piping near the facility's Train 2 solvent recovery unit and was quickly extinguished, caused little damage to major process equipment or piping systems Shell Canada Ltd. reported, and is not expected to materially impact the scheduled start of first synthetic crude oil production from the Scotford upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan.
However shipments of diluted bitumen into the Corridor pipeline and associated tankage for delivery to the upgrader have been suspended pending the restart of Train 1, which sustained minor damage. "The extent of damage and required repairs has not yet been fully determined," Shell said.
The $5.2 billion (Can) project—a joint venture of Shell 60%, Chevron Canada Ltd. 20%, and Western Oil Sands LP 20%—has been one of the world's largest construction projects in recent years.
When the project ramps up to full production of 155,000 b/d of bitumen this year, Shell said, it is expected to supply the equivalent of 10% of Canada's oil needs. The project is intended to replace an equivalent amount of imported oil, resulting in 6% fewer emissions than those associated with imported oil, Shell said.
