- Centre will continue focus on developing efficient
next-generation oil sands technologies
- Facility design will incorporate new technologies and
flexibility to accommodate future needs
- Occupancy planned for 2017
CALGARY, Feb. 18, 2015 /CNW/ - Imperial Oil Limited
announced today that it will build a new research facility in
southeast Calgary. The new
research centre will continue Imperial's progress in developing
next-generation resource recovery technologies for safely and
efficiently developing oil sands resources.
"Imperial's new state-of-the-art facility will support our oil
sands research and build on decades of excellent work in making oil
sands production economic and more environmentally friendly," said
Rick Gallant, vice-president of oil
sands development and research at Imperial. "Our new facility will
house lab-scale experiments and specialized facilities to help
expand knowledge, contribute to improving existing technologies,
and continue our work on the safest and most efficient
next-generation technologies for developing Canada's vast oil sands resource."
Imperial's industry-leading Calgary Research Centre currently
occupies space within the University of
Calgary's Research Park, and was responsible for developing
the two key in situ oil-sands recovery technologies currently in
use – cyclic steam-stimulation and steam-assisted gravity drainage,
or SAGD. Today, Imperial's research centre is driving technology in
new directions – applying next-generation thinking in pursuit of
even better ways to develop Canada's oil sands efficiently, responsibly
and sustainably. For example, Imperial's and ExxonMobil's Kearl
project is the first oil-sands mining operation that does not
require an upgrader to process oil sands bitumen into a saleable
crude oil. With the addition of electrical co-generation, a barrel
of Kearl bitumen will have about the same greenhouse-gas footprint
as other oils refined in North
America. Imperial is also pursuing other technologies that
would virtually eliminate the use of water in oil-sands mining and
dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions associated with bitumen
production processes.
Imperial's new research facility, like the company's new
headquarters campus nearby, is expected to meet LEED Gold building
standards of energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. Full
occupancy of the new centre is planned for 2017.
SOURCE Imperial Oil Limited