(Adds comment, details of Imperial projects)
By Nia Williams
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Canadian oil producer
and refiner Imperial Oil IMO.TO has added 120,000 barrels per
day of heavy crude supply from two new projects this year even
as prices languish near 6-1/2 year lows.
At an investor day in Toronto on Wednesday, Chief Executive
Officer Rich Kruger said the Kearl oil sands mine was producing
200,000 bpd after the successful start-up of its Phase 2
expansion project added capacity of 90,000 bpd.
Once the ramp-up is complete, Kearl's total capacity will
reach 220,000 bpd.
The Nabiye thermal project, which started earlier this year,
is producing 30,000 bpd and will hit 40,000 by the end of 2015.
The increase in production underlines how low prices have
yet to halt near-term growth in Alberta's oil sands, even though
project breakeven costs in the region are among the highest in
the world.
Projects like Kearl and Nabiye were approved by Imperial and
largely paid for when oil was still around $100 a barrel.
"We are at a little bit of a fortunate time," Kruger said.
"We are coming off a bunch of big investments."
Like many other producers, however, the company is holding
off on investments in longer-term projects yet to be sanctioned,
such as its Midzaghe solvent-assisted thermal project in
northern Alberta.
"We have got a lot of technical work to do to get the next
tranche of opportunities ready," Kruger said. "That's kind of
comforting to me; it gives me some time to see what happens in
all this crazy market."
U.S. crude CLc1 was last trading at just below $45 a
barrel, having recovered slightly from August's 6-1/2 low of
about $38.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)