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Imperial Oil receive approval for Cold Lake Expansion Project

After two years, Imperial Oil has received approval from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for their Cold Lake Expansion Project.
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Local municipalities are writing letters to explain how bills C-69 and C-48 will impact the region.

After two years, Imperial Oil has received approval from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for their Cold Lake Expansion Project.

The company submitted their application back in 2016, and are currently in the process of evaluating the requirements given to them by the AER.

"There are a number of conditions included. We've been reviewing those things that have been set up by the regulator," explained Imperial Oil spokesperson Lisa Schmidt, adding a final investment decision hasn't been made yet regarding the project, and they don't have a date in mind to make the announcement.

While the expansion has been approved, Imperial Oil still has yet to decide if they will be moving forward with the $2-billion project.

"As we do with all projects when we go through the process, and... receive regulatory approval like we did in August, we do take the time to look at a number of things. It's not necessarily just the conditions, but we review a lot of things around the project itself and business conditions," detailed Schmidt.

City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said the community's "holding their breath" while they wait to hear what Imperial decides.

"The process in place is taking too long for companies willing to make plans. The process to get approved in the area, in Alberta, is just too cumbersome and overbearing. Investment in Alberta is going elsewhere," Copeland exclaimed.

The expansion would add an in-situ solvent-assisted steam-assisted gravity drainage (SA-SAGD) to extract bitumen from underground.

It would use advanced recovery technology designed to improve environmental performance by reducing water and emissions intensity.

If approved, the expansion will be located in Imperial's current Cold Lake location, which is approximately 23 kilometres from the city. In their proposal, Imperial noted the expansion would employ 550 construction personnel and 100 operations positions.

The project, when completed, is expected to produce about 50,000 barrels of bitumen a day.

"Based on our research and the pilot research we've done on this, we do expect it to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by about 25 per cent. That's compared to the existing steam-assisted gravity draining technology," detailed Schmidt.

She noted, Imperial Oil is always looking for ways to "continue to develop in Cold Lake," and have been working on the application for quite sometime.

As they continue to expand, Imperial has also committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions at their Cold Lake in-situ by 10 per cent by 2023.

After submitting the regulatory application for approval to the AER, Imperial Oil advocated for the project. There were 18 statements of concerns regarding the expansion that had to be addressed during the process, along with a review by the Aboriginal Consultation Office (ACO) before it received the green light.

Cold Lake city council sent letters to AER and the provincial government to voice their frustrations on the delay of an answer regarding the project, including one sent earlier this year to Premier Rachel Notley.

Now that Imperial has received approval, Copeland noted the city is just waiting to hear their decision on continuing with the $2-billion project.

"I think everybody in our community and Bonnyville are waiting for some good news. Hopefully, Imperial Oil is going to go forward and invest in the area... Our communities need this investment in a bad way," he said.

If the project moves forward, Copeland believes it could stimulate the economy and bring jobs back to the area.

"When they come to announce, if it's a positive announcement, I think it's going to be a huge shot in the arm. We need something to cheer about, and let's hope it's all good news when they do."

Copeland stressed the importance of speeding up the approval process to allow Alberta to remain competitive in the oil industry.

"We need to take a hard look at the policies we brought in over the last few years. We're just choking it out right now. How can you invest in something that takes two to five years for approval? It's ridiculous. There's no reason, in my mind, why these applications can't be approved in 90-days. We need to revisit some goal posts, and revisit what it is we're trying to do."

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