Primrose and Wolf Lake

Canadian Natural's Primrose and Wolf Lake thermal heavy oil operations are located in northeastern Alberta in the municipalities of Lakeland County and District of Bonnyville. We are a significant primary heavy oil and in-situ oil sands producer in this region of Alberta.

Our developments in the region include:

• Wolf Lake Central Processing Facility—located approximately 55 km north of Bonnyville; currently approved  to produce 88,000 barrels of bitumen per day (bbl/d);
  
• Primrose South - bitumen production of 55,000 bbl/day; the site also includes a satellite steam generation facility and an 85-MW cogeneration facility; and
  
• Primrose North—by mid-2006 with the start-up of this new development our bitumen production is expected to reach 80,000 bbl/d.

Proposed Primrose In-Situ Oil Sands Project - Primrose East Expansion

In September 2004, we announced plans to further expand our operations in the Primrose and Wolf Lake areas through the development of the Primrose East Project.

Primrose East will be fully integrated with our existing Wolf Lake operations in order to efficiently recover bitumen.

The Primrose East development will utilize Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) as the primary bitumen recovery process and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) as a follow-up recovery process.

Pending regulatory approvals, the Project plans include:

• the addition of 37 new horizontal well pads, and associated infrastructure including pipelines, access roads and power lines.  These developments will encompass Townships 67 and 68, Ranges 3 and 4 West of the 4^th Meridian (to be developed between 2007 to 2034);
  
• expansion of the existing Wolf Lake Central Processing Facility from 88,000 bbl/d to 120,000 bbl/d bitumen;
  
• a 26,000 cubic metres/day (m³/d) satellite steam generation plant; and
  
• the flexibility to use either gas or bitumen as the primary fuel for the generation of steam at the Primrose South, North and East facilities. 
  

On January 24, 2006, we filed an integrated regulatory application under Alberta's Oil Sands Conservation Act, Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and Water Act.  An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was also submitted in support of this application.  If you would like to receive a CD of the application, please contact us at:  primrose@cnrl.com

 

We continue to seek stakeholder views and suggestions on the Primrose East application and EIA so that we can consider and incorporate input as we proceed with our development plans.

 

For more information on our existing operations and the proposed Primrose East Project, click on the links below:

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