Japan has started production at a Canadian oil sands project in conjunction with China’s largest producer of oil and gas.
Operator Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd (Japex) said ultra heavy crude (bitumen) is now flowing from the Hangingstone project in Alberta.
The development is a joint project between Japex’s Canadian subsidiary having a participating interest of 75% and acting as the operator and NEXEN Energy ULC -a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s CNOOC Limited.
CNOOC has a 25 interest in the steam injection scheme, which aims to produce 20,000 barrels a day by late 2018.