Province approves new oilsands project

EDMONTON Suncor can proceed with a new oilsands project south of Fort Mcmurray expected to produce 40,000 barrels per day, the Alberta government announced Wednesday.

Cabinet approved Suncor’s Meadow Creek West project, which would be an in-situ operation 40 km south of Fort Mcmurray.

The company said Wednesday it doesn’t plan to make a decision about proceeding until 2023.

Suncor applied to the Alberta Energy Regulator for approval in 2017.

The green light from government means Suncor can apply for environmental licences and development permits, a Wednesday Alberta Energy news release said.

“Enabling projects like Meadow Creek West demonstrates our commitment to encouraging investment and creating good-paying jobs in our province,” Energy Minister Sonya Savage said in the news release.

If it proceeds, project construction is expected to create 3,200 jobs and, once operational, the project will require about 200 employees.

The site will include a central processing facility and associate facilities, cogeneration facilities, thermal injection wells, production wells, water source wells, disposal wells, well pads, stormwater ponds and infrastructure like roads and pipelines.

Meadow Creek West is one of two proposed steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) projects in the area. The Alberta Energy Regulator approved the adjacent Meadow Creek East project in 2017. The projects are joint ventures between Suncor and Nexen Energy ULC.

SAGD bitumen extraction works by pushing steam through an underground pipe, which heats and softens the oilsands.

Gravity pulls the bitumen into another collection pipe underneath.

It’s then pumped to the surface with water.