molecules once rather than
twice.”
Imperial’s environment initia-
tives do not end at the pro-
duction line. Electrical co-
generation will save energy by
using the same heat to gen-
erate electricity and generate
steam for industrial purposes.
“The combination of paraffin-
ic froth treatment and electri-
cal co-generation will result
in Kearl being able to pro-
duce bitumen with about the
same life cycle greenhouse
gas emissions as many other
crude oils that are currently
refined in the United States.”
It’s something Imperial is es-
pecially proud of, given their
decade-long efforts to address
concerns. The project is also
adding fish habitat to Kearl
Lake to compensate for habi-
tat that was being disturbed
elsewhere in the area by proj-
ect development.
“We’ve added a larger quan-
tity fish habitat, by actually
adding on 25 per cent onto
an existing lake in the region,
making it deeper so the fish
survive over winter,” said Rol-
heiser, who noted that Impe-
rial Oil consulted with local
First Nations communities
extensively about this and nu-
merous matters.
Based on their learnings about
staged growth at Cold Lake,
the project will see measured
growth before coming to their
licensed production capacity
in 2020.
“The Kearl initial develop-
ment, later this year, will reach
production capacity of about
110,000 barrels a day,” said
Rolheiser. “That will grow to
about 145,000 barrels a day
by about 2015, with additional
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