The company filed a public disclosure document May 7 with Alberta regulators. After all approvals are in hand, the upgrader will be constructed in two phases: Phase I is designed to produce 130,000 b/d of light, sweet synthetic crude that could come on stream as early as 2013-14, and Phase II would increase total bitumen processing capacity to over 200,000 b/d.

"Constructing the project in two separate phases will allow Total to match upgrading capacity with upstream bitumen production," said Michel Borrell, president of Total E&P Canada. "Early in the next decade the proposed Joslyn North mine project should be up and running in the Athabasca oil sands area." The Joslyn North mine project, currently under review by regulators, is expected to produce 100,000 b/d of bitumen. Future development could increase production to about 200,000 b/d.

Total E&P Canada Ltd. is operator of the Joslyn lease 65 km northwest of Fort McMurray in the Athabasca oil sands region. Joslyn, in which Total has an 84% stake, is expected to produce 2 billion bbl of bitumen over 30 years. Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) commercial production on the site began in fourth-quarter 2006 and will plateau at 10,000 b/d by 2008.

Total E&P Canada also has a 50% stake, in partnership with ConocoPhillips, in the 544 sq km Surmont project 60 km southeast of Fort McMurray. SAGD commercial production is expected to begin this year, with plateau reaching 27,000 b/d of bitumen. Initial evaluations set the development potential of the site upwards of 200,000 b/d over 30 years.

The company also holds other leases in the oil sands and will explore opportunities for partnerships to grow and expand its Canadian portfolio.

PIN/OGJ.COM