Project Updates - July 2026
Patents Issued and Patent Applications of Note – July 2026
Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1] Search criteria: ("sagd" OR "CSS" OR "steam assisted gravity drainage" OR "cyclic steam stimulation" OR "bitumen" OR "thermal recovery" or "heavy oil" or “steam”).AB. AND @PD>=20260107<=20260731
D54 Project Reviews – July 2026
Harvest: BlackGold Oil Sands
Submitted: June 25, 2025
Reporting Period: January 1 – December 31, 2024
Operational Updates
· Completed site construction and start-up of WP-102 Expansion Project in May 2024
· Drilled side-track and producer wells on Pads 101 and 102:
· Pad 101: one side-track and one producer
· Pad 102: five side-track and two producer well
· Completed three re-drills using liner pull and whipstock with 5 and 9m WWS liners
Wellbore Integrity
· Experienced well control issue at Pad 102 in Apr 2024 where approximately 600 m3 of oil emulsion and 405 m3 of steam condensate were released:
Incident was reported to the AER under FIS Incident No. 20241029 and well was shut in and contained
Pilots
· Exploring Vacuum Insulated Tubing (VIT) as a potential initiative for steam optimization on a few more wells
· Ongoing testing of Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS) technology to understand chamber development and wellbore hydraulics
Plans
· Execute sidetrack/re-drills for 102-08 and 101-05 producers
· Perform major project turnaround
· Complete new re-drill well pairs on Pad 101 and Pad 102
· Complete Pad 103 construction, drill observation well(s), and drill sustaining well pairs
· Commence cogeneration, NCG co-injection, and solvent co-injection
· Acquire 3D and 4D seismic and additional OSE wells to de-risk development
· Finalize investment decision on Expansion Phase (> 1,590 m3/day)
· Submit applications for the following:
· IPL pipeline connection to the CPF
· Additional surface heave monitoring for Pad 103
· Technology to reduce SOR and increase R
Imperial: Cold Lake
Submission Date: June 30, 2025
Reporting Period: January 1 to December 31, 2024
Operational Updates
· Successfully started completed steam circulation and start-up on S01 SA-SAGD pads south and west wings at Imperial’s first SA-SAGD pad in the Grand Rapids formation
· Submitted applications for Mahihkan SA-SAGD and Leming interconnect material balances scheme amendments
Scheme Performance
· District:
· Achieved bitumen production of 23,900 m3/d, steam injection of 102,400 m3/d steam injection, and cumulative OSR of 0.27 in 2024 with 3,892 producing wells
· Four wells were re-drilled or sidetracked in CSS and steamflood areas across the district
· Saltwater disposal capacity was increased
· Mahihkan:
· H36 infill wells received first steam injection
· Mahkeses:
· Select pads at Mahkeses transitioned from CSS to LASER recovery method receiving diluent injection for the first time in 2024
· Drilled first multi-lateral warmflow well to access bypassed pay
· Maskwa:
2024
· Successfully started up a horizontal water disposal well 04-12 at Maskwa
· Nabiye:
· N02 horizontal injector-producer (HIP) wells received first steam injection
· Drilled four HIP wells on Pad N04
· Grand Rapids Phase 1 S01 Pad wells brought on production
Plans
· District
· Drill additional produced water disposal well in Cambrian formation to enable continued oil production with increasing water production
· Drill wells to access bypassed pay in existing operations (warmflow)
· Leming
· Complete construction for compressor addition at the Leming CPF (completed as of Q2 2025) and initiate start up
· Bring SAGD wells on production to redevelop low-recovery CSS pilot area
· Mahihkan
· Complete cycle 3 of LASER diluent injection at select pads to increase oil recovery
· Mahkeses:
2024
· Complete cycle 1 of LASER diluent injection at select pads to increase oil recovery
2024
· Drill three sets of infills to increase interwell communication and transition to low pressure recovery processes
· Drill several sidetracks to existing wells
· Maskwa:
Drill infills for D29 pad
· Nabiye:
Drill N15 pad
Complete infills at pads N01 and N02
Commence steam and production cycles for pad N04 HIP wells
Re-drill horizontal well with liner integrity issues
· Submit applications for the following:
Life cycle scheme amendment
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) EPEA and scheme amendment
Cambrian saltwater disposal scheme amendments
Source: Alberta Energy Regulator
Please note that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) transitioned to a new protocol in 2021 under which all D54 project reviews submitted by or before June 30th of a given year will be posted during the first quarter of the following year. Summaries for 2-3 project reviews per month will be featured in this publication over the course of a given year once they become available. All available presentations can be viewed online by clicking the source link.
DOB Energy Articles of Note – July 2026
Athabasca
· “Athabasca Awaits New Fiscal Framework Details Before Corner Sanction” – The company expects its Corner project to be the first greenfield project in the high-quality McMurray fairway to be sanctioned since 2013. (July 31, 2026)
Cenovus
· “Cenovus Reports Big Jump in Earnings on Second Quarter” – Cash from operating activities in Q2 2026 increased to $5.6 billion from $2.2 billion Q1 2026. (July 29, 2026)
Cardinal
· “Activity Accelerating on Cardinal's Reford 2 SAGD Project” – The company reported average quarterly production of 6,567 bbl/d at Redford 1 and noted multiple initiatives being advanced at Redford 2. (July 29, 2026)
Enbridge
· “Enbridge Delays Phase 2 of Mainline Optimization” – In the near term, the company is focused on advancing expansions on Flanagan South and Southern Access extensions which complement the Mainline Phase 2 Optimization (MLO2) project by providing access to the Gulf Coast. (July 31, 2026)
Greenfire
· “Greenfire Resources Acquiring Connacher Oil and Gas” – Greenfire set to gain all issued and outstanding shares of Connacher, a private thermal oilsands company with a 100 percent operated interest in the Great Divide oilsands project. (July 13, 2026)
Headwater
· “Headwater Sets Production Record in Q2” – Headwater reported record production of 24,567 boe/d in Q2 2026, a 10 percent increase from the same time last year. (July 24, 2026)
Lycos
· “Lycos Energy Acquiring Sparky Waterflood Assets” – Lycos is set acquire high netback assets under waterflood targeting the Sparky formation in the Greater Provost area of Alberta. (July 21, 2026)
Obsidian
· “Obsidian Increases 2026 Production Guidance After Closing Belly River Acquisition” – Average production guidance has been increased to 29,000–31,000 boe/d from 27,900–29,900 boe/d to reflect 2,500 boe/d of acquired production. (July 2, 2026)
· “Obsidian Energy Announces $75 Million Add-On to Its Senior Unsecured Notes” – Company CEO noted that the transaction will help drive production growth and expansion to waterflood initiatives in Peace River. (July 16, 2026)
· “Obsidian Q2 Focused on Bringing Wells Online at Willesden Green, Peace River” – Development activities during Q2 2026 focused on bringing wells on production in Willesden Green (Belly River) and Peace River (Clearwater), while advancing the start of its expanded second half development program. (July 31, 2026)
Strathcona
· “Strathcona Reaches First Steam at Meota Central” – First oil is expected in Q3 2026, and the company is targeting a peak oil rate of approximately 13,000 bbls/d by mid-2027. (July 9, 2026)
Surge
· “Sparky Continues to Drive Performance for Surge Energy” – The company reported average Q2 2026 production of 22,865 boe/d and noted that average production for the first half of 2026 has exceeded initial guidance. (July 30, 2026)
Tamarack
· “Clearwater Output Shows Success of Waterflood Expansion, Says Tamarack Valley” – Average production was 53,598 boe/d in Q2 2026, compared to 46,486 boe/d in Q2 2025, and the company expects average full year Clearwater production be 15 percent higher than 2025. (July 28, 2026)
Other
· “West Coast Pipeline, Pathways Project, Inch Closer to Reality” – The proposed pipeline will be owned by the federal and Alberta governments, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, with First Nations expected to take a share of equity ownership in the future and will cost between $35.2-$43.7 billion. (July 3, 2026)
· “Alberta and Ontario Announce Feasibility Study For 3,300-km West-To-East Pipeline” – Alberta’s premier says this is part of Alberta’s aim of doubling oil production in the next 10-15 years and diversifying export markets. (July 6, 2026)
· “Strategic Reserves Rebuild Could Help Bolster Crude Prices, Says Deloitte” – Deloitte forecasts that Western Canada Select (WCS) at Hardisty will average C$91.20/bbl for the second half of 2026 and $90.36/bbl for the year. (July 7, 2026)
· “Alberta Government Reports Decline in Oilsands Emissions Intensity” – Emissions per barrel have dropped by 28 percent, while Alberta’s oilsands are now producing more than 3.3 million bbls/d. (July 14, 2026)
· “MOU Agreement A ‘Step Forward’ to Support Growth and Advance Pathways CCS Project: Oil Sands Alliance” – The trilateral MOU contemplates a series of regulatory reforms and fiscal measures needed to accelerate oilsands production growth and get products to new markets, including via the proposed West Coast oil pipeline. (July 13, 2026)
· “Diluent Supply Concerns Grow as Oil Exports Rise; LNG Projects Could Help” – Kendall Dilling, president of the Oil Sands Alliance, expressed concern that the region will not have enough condensate supply and infrastructure to support the demand. (July 24, 2026)
Source: DOB Energy
Technical Publications of Note – July 2026
Research
· SPE-234695-PA: Electro-solvent-CO2 Synergistic Vertical-Horizontal Steam Drainage for Deep Heavy Oil Redevelopment in Northeastern China
· SPE-234699-PA: Quantifying the Gravity-Diffusion Competition in Solvent-Aided Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage from Laboratory to Field: A New Damköhler Number Framework
Reservoir Engineering and Development
· SPE-233765-PA: A Surrogate-Assisted Framework for Multi-objective Production Optimization of Graded-Viscosity Polymer Flooding
· SPE-236573-PA: Theory and Practice of Steamflooding Simulation: Model Error and Computational Efficiency SPE-200417-PA: Placeholder
Source: OnePetro Oil & Gas Technical Library
Regulatory Applications of Note – July 2026
Athabasca
· 1962027: Athabasca submitted an integrated amendment application for the Corner component of the Kai Kos Dehseh (KKD) project. The application includes details regarding proposed project footprint changes as well as associated environmental impact updates.
Cenovus
· 1962026: Cenovus requested approval to modify the maximum operating pressure (MOP) for select DA3 drainage patterns at Sunrise for the purposes of start-up during circulation and/or bull-heading operations, as well as during SAGD development.
Clear North
· 1962124: Clear North requested approval to amend the scheme area and add three water injection wells to the Spirit River Formation.
Headwater
· 1962068: Headwater requested approval to expand the scheme area and add three new multi-lateral horizontal water injection wells in the Clearwater.
· 1962193: Headwater requested approval to expand the scheme area and add six new water injection wells to the Upper and Lower Grand Rapids.
· 1962196: Headwater requested approval to expand the scheme area and add eight new polymer injection wells to the Wabiskaw-McMurray.
Obsidian
· 1962123: Obsidian submitted a post-drill application to commence water injection into two wells in the Spirit River Formation.
Suncor
· 1961908: Suncor requested approval to modify Pads 138-140 and 142 at Firebag by drilling well extensions, adding start up MOPs, and reconfiguring gas injection for lean-zone mitigation purposes.
· 1962016: Suncor requested approval to expand the Firebag project area to enable access to high-quality resources located immediately beyond the current boundary.
· 1962018: Suncor requested approval for five additional well pads at Firebag within the existing approved project area.
· 1962061: Suncor requested approval for NCG process/equipment changes related to the CPF and current and future Firebag SAGD wellpads.
Source: Alberta Energy Regulator