Imperial Oil approves $8.9-billion expansion to Kearl oilsands mine

CALGARY – Imperial Oil Ltd. is going ahead with an $8.9-billion expansion of its Kearl oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

The second phase of the project is slated to begin producing 110,000 barrels of oil per day by late 2015.

The Calgary-based company says construction on the first phase of Kearl is 80 per cent complete and is expected to start up about a year from now.

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Imperial had in initially planned to build Kearl in three phases, but changed its plans earlier this year to two phases, with a project in between to unlock spare capacity from the first phase.

The move meant the price tag of the first phase rose from $8 billion to $10.9 billion, but Imperial has said it expects the overall cost of the mine to remain the same.

Imperial says Kearl is a key part of its plans to double production to 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020.