Falling costs allow Canadian Natural to restart stalled oilsands project
CALGARY — Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) is hitting the restart button on a thermal oilsands project it suspended nearly two years ago, counting on lower costs to shave $100 million from the original $1.45-billion price tag.
The Calgary-based company said Thursday it will move ahead with the half-built 40,000-barrel-per-day Kirby North project, starting with a $28-million engineering and procurement budget in 2017 that will focus on finding construction cost savings.
The project is the first new facility in the oilsands industry to be officially sanctioned since crude prices fell below US$100 per barrel in mid-2014 and was approved despite oil prices that have changed little since it was put on the shelf in January 2015.
The company said it had spent about $700 million on the project before it was halted and expects to spend $650 million more for a total of $1.35 billion.