th
ect
$2.6 billion investment to develop 75,000 barrels per
day of bitumen production
I
mperial Oil Inc. announced on November 6, 2018, that
it has made a final investment decision to develop its
Aspen project, located about 45 kilometres northeast
of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The project, which is expected
to produce about 75,000 barrels of bitumen per day, will
include the first major commercial application of next-
generation oil sands recovery technology designed to
lower greenhouse gas emissions intensity and water use,
while improving development economics.
With a cost estimate of CA$2.6 billion, the Aspen proj-
ect is anticipated to create about 700 jobs during peak
construction and more than 200 jobs during operations.
Based on preliminary estimates and current tax and
royalty rates, more than CA$4 billion in direct federal
and provincial tax revenues are expected to be gener-
ated over the 30-year life of the project, as well as deliver
more than CA$10 billion in royalty revenues to the Alberta
government.
Through the application of advanced solvent-assisted,
steam-assisted gravity drainage technology at Aspen,
Imperial is building on its recently announced commit-
ment to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity
of its operated oil sands facilities. The new technology
JANUARY 2019 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 17
