Athabasca Oil Corp., Calgary, has named Rob Broen to the newly created position of chief operating officer in charge of light oil and thermal oil operations and all technical functions.
The appointment is effective immediately. Broen joined Athabasca in November 2012 as senior vice-president, light oil, with responsibility for the light oil division, drilling and completions services, and health, safety, and environment. He has more than 20 years of industry experience.
Before joining Athabasca, Broen was responsible for a 120,000 boe/d North American petroleum portfolio for an international exploration and production company.
Meanwhile, Ian Atkinson, senior vice-president, thermal oil, has resigned, said Athabasca Oil Chief Executive Officer and Pres. Sveinung Svarte.
“As one of the founders of Athabasca, Atkinson was central in the creation of a company with more than 11 billion bbl of recoverable bitumen and a vast land base for production of light oil and gas. He was also instrumental in the $3.9 billion oil sands joint venture which Athabasca entered into with a third party in 2010.”
Athabasca Oil is building Hangingstone Project 1, a 12,000 b/d steam-assisted gravity drainage project, with first steam planned for late 2014. Two further development phases of 40,000 b/d and 30,000 b/d, respectively, are contemplated for the area.