Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Calgary, has applied with provincial authorities to develop an in situ project to produce as much 50,000 b/d of bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta.
The Grouse project will use steam-assisted gravity drainage with as many as 191 well pairs drilled into the Lower Cretaceous McMurray formation from 36 surface pads over 20 years.
The project, which will include a central processing facility, will be in Lac La Biche County. CNRL plans to start clearing and lease construction in the third quarter of 2014 and major facility construction in the first quarter of 2015. It plans to begin steaming in fourth-quarter 2017.