The second train at the Fort Hills joint venture with Total and Teck Resources will be restarted this month and once operational, the owners would evaluate further increases to production.

Production has been stifled at the 194 000 bbl/d oil sands mine since the Alberta government in 2019 mandated an oil curtailment order to ease congestion on export pipelines.

The restart of the second train at Fort Hills will lay the foundation for improved cost effectiveness through optimisation of the mine fleet, without the use of additional contractors, and will include the completion of the full deployment of autonomous haul trucks by the end of 2020.

Teck said in a statement that, assuming ongoing production at Fort Hills on this basis, its production guidance for the year had been narrowed from between 100 000 bbl/d and 120 000 bbl/d, to about between 105 000 bbl/d and 115 000 bbl/d. Teck’s share is 21.3%.

The unit operating costs guidance has also been lowered by C$2 a barrel to between C$35/bbl and C$38/bbl for the year.