OPTI Canada Inc. (OPTI) announced today the Company's financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2008.
The Long Lake Project (the Project) will be the first commercial application of OPTI's proprietary integrated OrCrude process. This unique upgrading process, which combines proven refinery components configured in a novel way, is designed to produce a high quality, sweet synthetic crude (PSC) with the lowest operating costs in the industry. Upon achieving full design capacity, the Project is expected to produce approximately 60,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of PSC (30,000 net to OPTI) for over 40 years. OPTI is also advancing its future growth via a multi-stage expansion strategy to reach 180,000 bbl/d of PSC production capacity net to OPTI.
Key recent developments include:
- Continued ramp-up of SAGD production. With steam capacity and reliability improving, demonstrated production capacity in October has been as high as 19,000 bbl/d with average production volumes in the first half of October of 15,200 bbl/d;
- Continued preparation of the Upgrader for operations with final testing ongoing in preparation for production of first PSC; and
- Finalized plans, in conjunction with our joint venture partner, Nexen Inc., to defer sanctioning of Phase 2 while continuing to advance planning and engineering in order to be in a position to sanction Phase 2 at the end of 2009.
"SAGD production volumes continue to increase and we are in the final stages of testing our Upgrader," said Sid Dykstra, OPTI's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Despite current financial market volatility, OPTI is well positioned with a 60,000 barrel a day project in the process of start-up. We continue to work towards the development of future phases, but believe it is prudent to manage capital costs through 2009 and defer Phase 2 sanctioning until we are in a more stable economic environment, receive regulatory approval for the SAGD portion of the project and have more clarity on carbon dioxide regulations." -- www.cnxmarketlink.com
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