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Regulator approves more steaming at leaking oilsands site
Despite an unresolved leak, the Alberta Energy Regulator has given bitumen extractor Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. permission to once again start steaming parts of its Primrose and Wolf project in the Cold Lake Weapons Range.
Last spring, the Primrose operation sprouted mysterious, bitumen-oozing fractures on the ground at four well locations over the sprawling 73,000-hectare project.
From these fissures, more than 12,000 barrels of steamed bitumen has flowed onto muskeg and the forest floor, making the spill one of the largest in Alberta's history.
The spill has raised alarm bells among heavy oil investors. More than half of the bitumen extracted from Alberta's oilsands now comes from costly and energy-intensive thermal operations like the ones at Primrose.
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2014/04/23/CNRL-Steam-Resumes/
Last spring, the Primrose operation sprouted mysterious, bitumen-oozing fractures on the ground at four well locations over the sprawling 73,000-hectare project.
From these fissures, more than 12,000 barrels of steamed bitumen has flowed onto muskeg and the forest floor, making the spill one of the largest in Alberta's history.
The spill has raised alarm bells among heavy oil investors. More than half of the bitumen extracted from Alberta's oilsands now comes from costly and energy-intensive thermal operations like the ones at Primrose.
