North American Oil Sands Corp. (NAOSC), which is wholly owned by Statoil, has received approval from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board for the Leismer demonstration project in Canada. NAOSC operates 1110sq km of oil sands leases located in the Athabasca region of Alberta, NE of Edmonton. This is one of the largest heavy oil provinces in the world. The Leismer demonstration project is the first lease to be developed in the NAOSC portfolio. First production is planned for late 2009/early 2010. The project entails production from 22 horizontal well pairs linked to four well pads. A processing facility will generate steam which is injected under ground to make the heavy oil less viscous. It will have the capacity to produce 10,000 barrels of bitumen per day. The NAOSC portfolio is expected to yield more than 200,000bpd at the end of the next decade.
