| Key Facts |
Employees: 2,195
Total Average Daily Production in 2006: 235 MBOE
- Oil: 46 MBD
- Gas: 983 MMCFD
- NGL: 25 MBD
Crude Processing Capacity: --
Major Office Locations: Calgary |
Exploration and Production ConocoPhillips is one of Canada’s largest oil and natural gas production and exploration companies, with a world-class portfolio, including assets in Western Canadian natural gas and oil sands trends, the Arctic and Atlantic Canada. With the 2006 acquisition of Burlington Resources and the finalization of the oil sands partnership with EnCana in the Foster Creek and Christina Lake fields, ConocoPhillips is well-positioned for a strong future in Canada.
Western Canada Natural Gas
ConocoPhillips became a top-three natural gas producer in Canada with the 2006 acquisition of Burlington Resources. The acquisition more than doubled the company’s reserves, wells and production in the region. Company operations are primarily located in Alberta and British Columbia, with some production in Saskatchewan. ConocoPhillips also owns a number of natural gas processing plants in the region.
Deep Basin
ConocoPhillips is the largest operator and producer in the Deep basin, located west of Grande Prairie in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. The Deep basin provides productive potential from a total of 14 prospective geological formations. As of Dec. 31, 2006, the company held mineral rights in 2.2 million gross acres (1.5 million net acres). The company conducts an active drilling program in the area, which in 2007 will consist of approximately 85 wells, compared to recent years in which more than 200 wells were drilled annually. ConocoPhillips is the operator of about 90 percent of its activity in the area. Average production for 2006 was 219 MMCFD of gas, 9 MBD of NGL and 2 MBD of oil. The company holds significant working interests in seven major natural gas processing facilities in this area. The primary processing facility is the ConocoPhillips-operated Elmworth plant near Grande Prairie. Processing capacity at Elmworth recently was expanded from 300 MMCFD to 450 MMCFD. ConocoPhillips holds an 87 percent interest in the Elmworth facility.
Rimbey/O’Chiese
ConocoPhillips’ assets in the Rimbey and O’Chiese operating areas in central Alberta are characterized by multihorizon reservoirs at medium depths ranging from 6,500 to 10,000 feet. An active capital program is under way, targeting moderate-risk development and extension opportunities. Net production for 2006 averaged 191 MMCFD of natural gas, 8 MBD of NGL and 6 MBD of oil.
Southern Plains
Comprising primarily eastern and southern Alberta, Southern Plains is principally made up of shallow- and medium-depth natural gas assets, including all of the Horseshoe Canyon coalbed methane assets. With virtually year-round access and less than 7,500-foot-depth targets, this area offers lower-cost, low-risk development opportunities. The 2007 capital program includes drilling 250 to 300 wells. ConocoPhillips’ net production was 207 MMCFD of natural gas, 1 MBD of NGL and 6 MBD of oil during 2006.
Kaybob/Edson
The Kaybob/Edson area is located in west-central Alberta and covers nearly eight million acres of land. ConocoPhillips is one of the largest operators in the Kaybob/Edson area, holding 1.2 million net acres of land and producing 153 MMCFD of natural gas, 4 MBD of NGL and 2 MBD of oil in 2006. Activity is split between downspacing and development drilling in the Rock Creek, Cadomin and Bluesky/Gething formations, and trend extension and concentric exploration in the Falher, Cadotte and other Lower Mannville units. Significant recompletion potential exists in secondary targets, such as the Cardium, Viking and Belly River zones. In 2006, the company drilled just over 200 wells, with 90 wells planned for 2007.
Northern Plains
In the Northern Plains area, located in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, ConocoPhillips holds approximately 1.2 million net acres of development and exploration assets. The main producing horizons consist of shallow natural gas in the Bluesky/Gething and Montney in the Ring Border area. The company is pursuing exploration opportunities in the Debolt formation. Production from the Northern Plains area in 2006 was 79 MMCFD of natural gas, 2 MBD of NGL and 1 MBD of oil. In 2007, the company plans to drill 39 wells in this area.
Foothills
ConocoPhillips has a core position of 617,000 net acres in the Canadian foothills, which extends in a 15- to-20-mile-wide band along a 250-mile expanse of the Rocky Mountains from the Central foothills area, northwest of Calgary, Alberta, into northeast British Columbia. The program is focused on two main components: deep sour gas production in the inner foothills and sweet gas production from the outer foothills. Typical development and exploration programs consist of participation in eight to 10 sour wells and 20 to 25 sweet wells annually. Net natural gas production averaged 82 MMCFD in 2006.
Assets Sold in 2006 and Early 2007
In January 2007, the company completed the sale of oil and natural gas producing properties and undeveloped acreage in western Canada. These sales included oil properties in northern, central and southern Alberta and shallow natural gas properties in southwestern Alberta and southeastern Saskatchewan. Combined production from these properties averaged 52 MMCFD of natural gas, 1 MBD of NGL and 8 MBD of oil in 2006.
Oil Sands
 ConocoPhillips significantly increased its stake in Alberta’s oil sands with the completion of the FCCL Oil Sands Partnership agreement with EnCana in January 2007, encompassing development of the Foster Creek and Christina Lake properties. In addition to the company’s interest in Syncrude, the Surmont joint venture and undeveloped resources in the Saleski, Thornbury and Clyden areas, this new partnership significantly increases the company’s Canadian oil sands resource holdings.
Syncrude is a joint-venture oil sands project that has operated in northeastern Alberta since 1978. The project mines oil sands, extracting 8-degree API bitumen and upgrading it into a 32-degree API sweet, synthetic crude oil called Syncrude Sweet Blend. The primary plant and facilities are located at Mildred Lake, about 25 miles north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, with an auxiliary mining and extraction facility approximately 20 miles from the Mildred Lake plant. All production is shipped via a dedicated third-party pipeline to the Edmonton area, where custody is turned over to the seven owners for marketing to eastern Canada and much of the northern United States. The gross production rate for 2006 was 258 MBD. Development of the Stage III expansion-mining project was essentially completed in 2006, and the plant now has a nameplate capacity of 353 MBD. Net production in 2006 was 21 MBD.
ConocoPhillips is operator of Surmont, a significant oil sands deposit within the Athabasca region of northern Alberta, approximately 35 miles south of Fort McMurray. The bitumen is too deep to mine and will be extracted using steamassisted gravity drainage that involves the injection of steam deep into the oil sands, effectively melting the heavy bitumen, which then is recovered and pumped to the surface for further processing. The 110 MBD (gross) Surmont project received regulatory approval in 2003. Construction of the facilities and development drilling began in 2004. Over the life of this 30-plus-year project, ConocoPhillips anticipates that approximately 500 production and steam-injection well pairs will be drilled. Commercial production is expected to begin in the second half of 2007, with peak production anticipated in 2016.
The FCCL Oil Sands Partnership is a 50/50 upstream partnership between ConocoPhillips and EnCana that consists of the Foster Creek and Christina Lake projects, both located on the prolific eastern flank of the Athabasca oil sands in northeastern Alberta. EnCana operates these two projects on behalf of the partnership. As of Dec. 31, 2006, the assets hold approximately 6.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and the partnership’s goal is to increase production from the current 60 MBD to 400 MBD. The companies also formed a 50/50 downstream venture operated by ConocoPhillips consisting of the Wood River and Borger refineries.
ConocoPhillips also holds other lands in the Athabasca oil sands region which contain substantial oil sands resources. These resources are yet to be fully evaluated and are expected to be ultimately developed through in-situ technology, such as steam-assisted gravity drainage.
Canada Exploration and Business Development
ConocoPhillips holds exploration acreage in three areas of Canada: offshore eastern Canada, the foothills of western Alberta and the Canadian Arctic.
Atlantic Canada
In the southern Grand Banks offshore Newfoundland, the company operates eight contiguous exploration licenses that total in excess of eight million acres in the deepwater Laurentian basin. Additionally, ConocoPhillips holds a 35 percent interest in four natural gas discoveries offshore Labrador. Development of these fields depends on the continued development of industry infrastructure for offshore Labrador natural gas.
Canadian Arctic
ConocoPhillips Canada has been one of the principal players in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea exploration trends since the late 1960s and is the operator of the Parsons Lake and Amauligak discoveries. ConocoPhillips holds 43 significant discovery licenses and two exploration licenses and is the operator of 11 of these licenses in the area. At year-end 2006, total leasehold for the region was 737,000 gross acres and 249,000 net acres.
ConocoPhillips is operator of the Parsons Lake natural gas field is located in the Mackenzie Delta, 45 miles north of Inuvik and about 35 miles southwest of Tuktoyaktuk. Parsons Lake is one of the three anchor fields that would be produced into the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project discussed below. The field was discovered in 1972.
Also in the Canadian Arctic, ConocoPhillips participated, with a 25 percent interest, in the Umiak N-16 exploration well, which was drilled in the Mackenzie Delta in 2004. During 2005, this well was tested and an appraisal well was completed and tested. In October 2006, ConocoPhillips acquired an additional 15 percent interest in the Umiak discovery. Plans to commercialize this discovery will be linked to the progress of the Mackenzie Gas Project and its infrastructure development.
Additionally the company is operator of Amauligak, the largest oil and gas field in the region. It lies approximately 31 miles offshore in shallow water. Development planning will be linked to progress of the Mackenzie Gas Project.
Mackenzie Gas Project
ConocoPhillips is working with three other companies on a project to transport onshore natural gas from the Mackenzie Delta in northern Canada to established natural gas markets in North America. The planned startup capacity for the pipeline would be 1.0 BCFD, which will be expandable with additional compression to 1.8 BCFD. A separate pipeline also is planned to transport natural gas liquids to existing pipeline infrastructure for delivery to the North American market. The Parsons Lake field is one of three primary fields that would anchor the pipeline development. ConocoPhillips holds an average 18 percent interest in the proposed pipeline and gathering system. Formal regulatory applications for the project were submitted in 2004. The National Energy Board and Joint Review Panel hearings started in January 2006 and continue at multiple locations in the Canadian North. The Joint Review Panel has extended its hearings through November 2007.
Commercial
One of the company’s four Commercial offices is housed in Calgary, where employees manage worldwide commodity supply, marketing and trading needs.
Find out more at …
ConocoPhillips Canada
Dialogue on Sustainable Development (.pdf document)
Mackenzie Gas Project
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