Imperial Oil Begins Kearl Oil Sands Expansion Project

Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO,NYSE:IMO) announced that it’s successfully begun its Kearl oil sands expansion project.

All three froth trains are now operational, and production from the expansion project is ultimately expected to reach 110,000 barrels a day. In total, Kearl’s total production will then be 220,000 barrels a day.

Rich Kruger, chairman and CEO of Imperial, commented:

Startup of the Kearl expansion project was achieved with a disciplined focus on safety, project management and operational excellence. Completed ahead of schedule, the project benefited significantly from Imperial’s ‘design-one/build multiple’ approach, ExxonMobil’s expertise in project planning and execution, strong relationships with Alberta-based contractors, and lessons learned from the Kearl initial development.

The overall Kearl development represents the next generation of oil-sands mining. Using Imperial’s proprietary paraffinic froth treatment process, we eliminated the need for an onsite upgrader, significantly reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Specifically, on a well-to-wheels basis, Kearl diluted bitumen has about the same greenhouse-gas emissions footprint as the average crude refined today in the United States. Energy consumption has also been reduced by installing electrical cogeneration technology.

Click here to read the full Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO,NYSE:IMO) press release.