By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 4 -- Imperial Oil Ltd., Calgary, Tuesday marked the opening of its plant and field facilities for the Mahkeses (Phases 11-13) project, a major, $650 million (Can.) expansion of its heavy oil operations at Cold Lake, Alta. Early in 2001, Imperial announced plans to spend $1 billion on an expansion of its oil sands operations in that area (OGJ Online, Feb. 20, 2001).
The project includes plant and field facilities for steam generation, bitumen production, and cogeneration of electrical power. The 170 Mw facility uses natural gas to generate electricity and heat recovery units to generate steam for the bitumen recovery process.
"Successful completion and start-up of the Mahkeses project is a significant milestone in the phased development of the Cold Lake resource, which is Imperial's largest source of crude oil production. . .," said KC Williams, senior vice-president and director. "( The Mahkeses plant) incorporates the best of everything we've learned during nearly 4 decades of pilot work and commercial operations at Cold Lake—from the point of view of technology, reliability, and environmental protection," Williams added.
Mahkeses will add an average of 30,000 b/d of production over its estimated 25-year operating life. With the addition of Mahkeses, Imperial operates 13 phases of commercial bitumen production at its Cold Lake project. Average bitumen production for May averaged 140,000 b/d, the company said.
