INDUSTRY
Production Statistics
PROJECT
Joslyn (mine – 2013)
Joslyn (SAGD)
INITIAL
Bbl/d 50,000
10,000
POTENTIAL
200,000
40,000
TOTAL E&P CANADA
Photo: Joey Podlubny
France-based energy giant becomes an oilsands player
Total E&P Canada is the Canadian arm of the world’s
fourth largest oil company, Total S.A. When the Paris-based energy giant established a foothold in Alberta’s
oilsands through its acquisition of an 84 per cent interest
in the Joslyn Creek asset in 2005, it served to underline
the growing allure of the oilsands for the international
oil and gas community. Under the purchase, Total paid
about $1.5 billion to Deer Creek Energy, a relatively small
Alberta independent that had acquired the Joslyn Creek
lease from Talisman Energy in 1999 for $30 million.
Oilsands analysts say that big energy companies like
Total are attracted to Canada’s oilsands because of
the country’s political stability and the presence of a
guaranteed asset that will produce at a steady, reliable
rate for two or three decades.
At the time of the 2005 purchase, limited production of
about 260 barrels per day had already started earlier in
the year, but hundreds of core wells had been drilled
and extensive delineation of the oilsands asset had
been done. The research showed that the lease, located
about 60 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, could
support both a thermal in situ and a mining operation.
Now, in short order, Total has become a major oilsands
player with plans to spend from $10 million to $15
million over the next decade in developing its Joslyn
Creek asset with partner Enerplus Resources.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, the second phase of
the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) project at
Joslyn Creek achieved production of 6,000 barrels per
day with a targeted peak production level of 10,000
