Calgary-based private company Surmont Energy Ltd. has completed its winter 2011/2012 oilsands exploration program at the company’s oilsands leases located about 70 kilometres southwest of Ft. McMurray, Alberta.
This winter’s program consisted of a $3 million, 13 square kilometer 3-D seismic shoot, followed by an approximately $5.5 million program for drilling 10 oilsands coreholes on seismically defined locations. A cap rock core was also acquired as part of the program.
The work was carried out with Surmont’s operating partner Bounty Developments Ltd. Surmont has now earned an 80% working interest in the 19 contiguous sections of oilsands lands comprising the leases, with Bounty holding the remaining 20%.
Surmont will use the results of this winter’s seismic and drilling program, together with corehole and seismic information from previous years, to commission an updated resources report by an independent evaluation company.
Surmont has also commenced work intended to lead to submission later this year of regulatory applications for the first phase of a SAGD oilsands project, with such first phase currently anticipated to be designed to produce in the range of 10,000 to 12,000 bopd.
Surmont and Bounty will also be assessing plans for exploration of the rest of the lands in upcoming seasons, with the objective of developing additional project phases to increase overall reserves and peak production rates to a multiple of Phase 1 values.
