Opportunities

In situ

Cold Lake expansion

We are evaluating potential expansion in the Grand Rapids formation at our Cold Lake operations, involving SA-SAGD recovery of bitumen. In early 2016, we submitted regulatory applications for a potential development that would include a steam-generation and bitumen-processing plant with wellpads and other facilities to support production of about 50,000 barrels per day. In August 2018, Imperial received regulatory approval for the proposed Cold Lake Expansion project. No final investment decision has been made.

Learn more about our Cold Lake expansion. 

Corner and Clyden

Imperial is assessing potential development on its Corner and Clyden oil sands leases, located south of Fort McMurray Alberta. Delineation work for both lease holdings is ongoing.

Natural gas and tight oil

Horn River

The Horn River region of British Columbia is northeast of Fort Nelson. Our 205,000 net acres represent one of the industry’s largest acreage positions in the area for ‘shale gas’ or ‘tight gas,’ typically developed through multiple wells and hydraulic fracturing.

Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada (50-50 interest) suspended operation of the Horn River horizontal well production pilot in May 2015. The successful pilot began in August 2012 and ran its planned course – assessing productivity and cost improvements to help determine potential long-term plans.  

Montney (Simonette)

Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada have been acquiring exploration acreage in the liquids-rich portion of the Montney play in the Simonette area of northwestern Alberta. Current plans for this acreage are to evaluate the resource potential with an eight-well exploration drilling program.

Duvernay

Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada jointly (50-50 interest) hold 540,000 net acres in the liquids-rich Montney/Duvernay area straddling the northern BC/Alberta border. This includes about 104,000 net acres in the Duvernay shale and additional acreage in other areas of Alberta. The position is partly the result of ExxonMobil Canada’s acquisition of Celtic Exploration Ltd., in October 2012. Evaluation of this acreage is ongoing.

Cardium

Imperial and ExxonMobil Canada have an extensive land holding in southern Alberta’s Cardium tight oil formation. ExxonMobil Canada has been operating conventional resources in the Harmattan area since the 1960s. Imperial currently operates a successful commercial project with 40 producing wells and a current volume of about 3,000 bpd.

Frontier

Imperial is always reviewing potential opportunities in promising but technically challenging frontier areas such as deep-sea offshore locations and Canada’s Arctic. As with all of our operations, we approach frontier opportunities with a strong commitment to environmental protection, safety and innovation.

Beaufort Sea

In Q2 of 2015 Imperial and its joint venture partners decided, after careful review, to defer the proposed Beaufort Sea exploration drilling program located about 180 kilometres northwest of Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. The joint venture will continue to maintain a presence in the north, including maintaining an office in Inuvik, executing a multi-year program to collect critical ice data, and continuing to work with communities to define business, employment and training opportunities for northerners.

Imperial remains committed to the Arctic as an important future source of energy. In addition to ongoing engagement with the ExxonMobil Arctic technology research initiatives, we will continue to work closely with government and academic institutions to share expertise in the offshore Arctic.

• Read the Beaufort project description
• View the EM Arctic Leadership brochure

Mackenzie Gas Project

The Mackenzie gas project joint-venture participants have announced that they have decided not to proceed with the project at this time and are dissolving the joint venture.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

WCC LNG Project

After careful review, ExxonMobil Canada and Imperial have withdrawn the WCC LNG project from the environmental assessment process. Imperial Oil Resources and ExxonMobil Canada were in the early stages of assessing the economic potential of an onshore LNG plant project at Prince Rupert’s Tuck Inlet on British Columbia’s West Coast.