The massive Kearl project is set to begin production is set to start operations in April 2013.
Kearl under construction Image: Imperial Oil |
According to Imperial Oil the first steps of filling storage tanks and the pipeline from the $12.6bn facility will begin this month, with the whole process taking as much as 90 days to complete.
The Alberta-based site will then begin marketing its diluted bitumen output as quickly as possible.
The facility, which is jointly owned by Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada, will be one of the country's s largest open-pit mining operations, with regulatory approval for up to 345,000 barrels a day of production.
In the wake of spiraling costs, the operators are determined to bring the site onstream as quickly as possible. The initial output is likely to be set at around 110,000bpd from a a resource estimated to contains 4.6bn barrels of recoverable bitumen. The ore is close to the surface, meaning there is minimal exploration risk.