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The 10th oil sands mine

March 27, 2013

The $12.9 B Kearl oil sands mine will commence production this month. It will be the 10 th oil sands mine. In aggregate these mines produce 1.4 million barrels of oil per day.

Located 70 km north of Fort McMurray is the Kearl oil sands project, jointly owned between Imperial Oil (operator) and ExxonMobil Canada. Imperial Oil is the project proponent for the Kearl project. It comes in phases—Phase 1 will produce 110,000 bbls per day followed by Phase 2 in 2015. Eventually Kearl will ramp up to 345,000 bbls per day.

Kearl is unique in that it does not draw on outside sources of water. One external tailings area that will be emptied and reclaimed as soon as space is available to process and return the remaining tailings into mined-out areas of the pit. Staged development plans for extensions to Kearl Lake that will compensate for the disturbance of fish habitat in the mining area. One integrated, progressive reclamation plan for the whole lease area that optimizes the balance between developed, undisturbed and reclaimed areas. One comprehensive environmental and socio-economic assessment that addresses the benefits and impacts over the entire life of Kearl.

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Source: Imperial Oil