Corrected: UPDATE 3-Imperial Oil considering moving ahead with Aspen oil sands project earlier than planned

Imperial Oil

30/10/2026 13:40

Corrects in paragraphs 12-13 to two separate third-party outages
Aspen could produce up to 150,000 barrels of bitumen per day
Decision timing depends on technology readiness, fiscal and regulatory environment
Imperial still targeting mid-November for Pathways carbon capture agreements
By Amanda Stephenson and Khusbu Jena
Oct 30 (Reuters) - Canada's Imperial Oil IMO.TO is considering a decision to proceed with its Aspen oil sands project earlier than planned.
Exxon-owned Imperial had previously said it would make a final investment decision on the Aspen project at the end of this decade. But CEO John Whelan said on a conference call Friday the company is considering making a decision sooner on Aspen, a major proposed new oil sands development in northern Alberta that could produce up to 150,000 barrels of bitumen per day. It would be among Imperial's largest sources of oil.
"We are looking at do we want to bring it forward," Whelan said.
The announcement is a sign of growing confidence among Canadian oil sands producers in the wake of Prime Minister Mark Carney's efforts to boost Canadian oil production and grow the country's economy. Carney has repealed many of the environmental policies of his predecessor Justin Trudeau. He also has cut the tax rate on new capital investment, and pledged to back a new proposed crude pipeline to the country's west coast.
Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer, and its oil production has been rising. But the last major new oil sands project, Suncor's Fort Hills, started operating in 2018. Since then, companies have concentrated on smaller expansions of existing projects and have been reluctant to make the kind of major new capital investments that spur job creation and economic growth.
While no oil sands producer has yet committed to a major expansion, Whelan said Imperial is encouraged by steps taken by both the federal and Alberta provincial governments so far this year to improve the investment environment for Canadian oil.
He said ​oil sands companies continue to target mid-November as their preferred time frame to reach definitive agreements with the Alberta and federal governments, paving the way for a potential decision to construct the multi-billion-dollar Pathways carbon capture project. Carney has said this must be a prerequisite to the west coast pipeline going ahead.
Imperial's proposed Aspen development is an in situ project, meaning it would use steam to loosen the thick bitumen located in Alberta's oil sands in order to bring it to the surface. The company is working on a pilot project on the Aspen site that will make use of solvent-assisted technology to significantly reduce the amount of steam required — reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and water usage.
Whelan said Imperial's long-term plan is to use the solvent-assisted technology at two of its other undeveloped in situ lease sites, Corner and Clarke Creek. Taken together with Aspen, Whelan said, the three projects have the potential to double the company's upstream production over time.
"Ultimately our decision (to move the Aspen timing forward) is going to be driven by technology readiness, project economics and again, that broader fiscal and regulatory environment," he said.
Imperial posted an adjusted net income of C$5.11 per share for the quarter ended September 30, beating analysts' average estimate of C$4.70 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Total throughput volumes, or the amount of crude processed, fell to 381,000 barrels per day during the third quarter from 425,000 bpd a year ago, hurt by what the company described as an 18-day third-party outage.
Quarterly upstream production averaged 418,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), lower than 462,000 gross boepd a year earlier, due in part to a separate temporary outage at the Enbridge-operated Woodland pipeline that affected volumes at the Kearl oil sands facility.
($1 = 1.3959 Canadian dollars)
     

 (Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary and Khusbu Jena in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and David Gregorio)
 ((amanda.stephenson@thomsonreuters.com))