Royal Dutch Shell will proceed with its Carmon Creek project in Alberta, Canada, expected to produce up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day. Carmon Creek is a thermal in-situ project completely owned by Shell, and will be part of the company’s broader production, refining and marketing business in North America.
Shell submitted its regulatory application for Carmon Creek in 2010 and received approval from the Alberta Energy Regulator in April 2013. The project is expected to provide a secure, reliable energy source and benefits to Alberta and Canada for more than 35 years.
Carmon Creek facility is commercially viable and minimizes environmental impacts. This design includes a novel well delivery system and the use of cogeneration that will also feed power into the Alberta grid – enough to power half a million homes. The project aims to eliminate the need for freshwater for steam generation through recycling of water produced with the oil.
For the start-up of Phase One and Two, Carmon Creek will produce from 13 well pads. Cogeneration units are expected to produce an annual average of up to 630MW of electricity, of which about 500MW is expected to be sold to the northwest Alberta power grid.
