The company said that bitumen volumes have more than doubled following the facility turnaround in the third quarter of 2009 when it replaced valves in the water treatment system, cleaned out the hot lime softeners and isolated the water treatment trains.
Absolute operating costs increased about 10% year-over-year as the company added resources to improve operating reliability of the SAGD and upgrader, and the unit operating costs are expected to be $25 to $30 per barrel at full capacity.
In December, the project produced 29,000bbls/d, and the January production has averaged 27,000bbls/d.
The company said that the decrease in production is due to steam interruptions and downhole pump failures.
During December and January, the company has injected its highest steam volumes of 172,000bbls/d and 156,000bbls/d, respectively.
While fluid returns have risen, the bitumen production has not increased proportional to the steam injection.
This is because some of the steam is heating high water saturation zones, and bitumen rates and steam to oil ratios (SORs) will improve once these zones are heated, the company said.
After these issues are sorted, the company expects to achieve 600bbls/d to 800bbls/d per well pair of bitumen at an SOR of three to four.
