CNOOC to Restart Oil Sands Upgrader Closed by Fatal Explosion

The project will allow Long Lake to produce the more expensive form of crude oil at a time when the company is expanding the site to produce nearly 100,000 barrels a day. The upgrader converts a thick, sticky type of crude called bitumen into a more valuable, lighter one. Without the upgrader, CNOOC was still pumping almost 6,605 cubic meters (around 42,000 barrels) of bitumen a day in November, AER data show.

The application to restart was filed with the AER in November and marked as “reassigned” on Jan. 17. An email to the agency late Tuesday wasn’t returned nor was an email to CNOOC.

Long Lake is the only thermal oil sands well site in Canada that contains an upgrader. Usually, they’re found at oil sands mines. The explosion at the site in early 2016 killed one worker and injured another.