By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 17 -- Suncor Energy Inc. has awarded Ondeo Nalco Co., a unit of Suez Environment Industrial Services, an 8 year, $10 million contract to provide oil and water treatment services at Suncor's "Firebag" in situ oil sands project in northwestern Alberta. A steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) oil extraction project, Firebag is 25 miles north of the company's existing Fort McMurray oil sands operation on leases covering more than 620 sq miles. It contains an estimated 9.6 billion bbl of bitumen (OGJ, June 10, 2002, p. 24).
Ondeo Nalco will develop oil and water treatment programs and provide chemical and on-site expertise for the oil sands project, which is expected to supply an additional 140,000 b/d of bitumen at the site by the end of the decade. The contract contains a provision for contract extension as Suncor develops plans to expand oil production. Using the SAGD method will reduce Suncor's total cost of operations while enhancing environmental benefits, the company said.
"Oil production is a highly competitive business, and oil sands producers in Canada must use innovative production methods to access and deliver oil to market in a cost-effective way," said Christian Maurin, chairman and CEO, Ondeo Nalco.
Firebag is seen as a four-phase project, with each phase adding 35,000 b/d to production for a total of 140,000 b/d. Phase 1 of the Firebag project, now under construction, will increase Suncor production to 260,000 b/d by 2005. Suncor also would add a vacuum tower complex and upgrading capacity to handle additional production from Firebag.
Suncor's current production capacity for oil sands operation is 225,000 b/d of oil, with plans to increase total production to 550,000 b/d over the next decade.