Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, May 10 -- Japan Canada Oil Sands Ltd. (Jacos) plans to increase production to 43,000 b/d from 8,000 b/d of bitumen at its Hangingstone oil sands project in northern Alberta.
The planned bitumen increase is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2014.
Jacos holds the rights to leases covering 46,000 hectares in the Athabasca oil sands region, including the Hangingstone, Chard, Corner, Liege and Thornbury areas.
Jacos will seek regulatory approval for its expansion in 2010 pending completion of further engineering work and an environmental impact assessment.
Jacos, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., is operator of the project and holds a 75% stake, with the remaining 25% held by Nexen Inc. of Calgary.
In November Total SA sold a 10% stake in its Joslyn oil sands asset in northern Alberta to Tokyo-based Inpex Holdings Inc., making it the second Japanese firm after Jacos to win a stake in the province's hydrocarbons industry.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
