Regulators give green light to Shell’s Alberta oil sands plans

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

Shell Canada and its partners in the Athabasca oil sands project have received approval from the Canadian and Alberta governments for their C$2 billion Jackpine operation.

Shell, the 60 percent operator, along with Chevron Canada Resources and Western Oil Sands, each with a 20 percent stake, are targeting 200,000 barrels per day over 22 years, but the project is not expected to come on stream before 2010 at the earliest. It has yet to receive financing approval from the boards of directors.

Ahead of Jackpine in the line-up is a proposed 70,000 bpd addition to the Athabasca project, which came on stream at the start of 2003 and is still about 20,000 bpd short of its design capacity of 155,000 bpd.

Shell hopes to get company approval for that expansion in the first quarter of 2005 to bring it on stream by 2010.