Less than a week after two of Canada’s top five tar sands/oil sands producers announced they were cutting back production due to the low price their bitumen fetches on world markets, ExxonMobil subsidiary Imperial Oil announced a C$2.6-billion project destined to increase the supply glut.
The Aspen project in northern Alberta will start out with capacity of 75,000 barrels per day, with the potential to grow to 150,000 barrels per day, Reuters reports. Imperial plans to start construction this fall and begin operating the plant in 2022.