Operator ConocoPhillips and 50-50 partner Total SA have started production from their Surmont 2 in-situ oil sands facility situated 63 km southeast of Fort McMurray in the Athabasca region of Alberta.
ConocoPhillips describes the Surmont 2 facility, construction of which began in 2010 (OGJ Online, Jan. 19, 2010), as “the largest single-phase steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) project ever undertaken.”
Since first steam in May (OGJ Online, June 1, 2015), the reservoir has successfully been heated to a point where the well pairs can be converted to a SAGD configuration, allowing the oil to flow. Production was declared once the inspected product was successfully routed to sales tanks, ConocoPhillips says.
Production will ramp-up through 2017, adding 118,000 bo/d. Total gross capacity for Surmont 1 and 2 is expected to reach 150,000 bo/d. Surmont 1 started commercial production in 2007 (OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2007).
