Cenovus Energy: A next generation oil sands producer

With the world's third-largest oil reserves, cutting-edge expertise and a stable political and economic system, Canada is emerging as one of Asia's best options for long-term energy security. Ninety-seven per cent of the country's recoverable oil is located in a distinctive deposit known as the oil sands. Using state-of-the-art mining and drilling technology, oil sands producers are finding increasingly effective ways to exploit this rich resource of heavy crude. Oil sands expansion is expected to help Canada more than double oil production to about 6.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030.

Cenovus Energy is one of Canada's leading oil sands producers and the country's largest thermal operator. Using specialised drilling methods, Cenovus injects steam deep underground to separate the thick oil from the sand, then pumps the oil to the surface. This next-generation technology is known as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD).

"We like to think of ourselves as a technology company that works in the oil business," says Brian Ferguson, president and CEO of Cenovus. "We are focused on innovation to continually improve our efficiency and environmental performance so that all Canadians can be proud of how we produce oil."

Cenovus has been recognised as one of the world's top sustainable energy producers. This is partly due to the company's industry-leading steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) at its oil sands projects. SOR is a measure of how many barrels of steam are needed to produce a barrel of oil.

The company's combined SOR at its producing Foster Creek and Christina Lake projects in Alberta is just above two. This low SOR contributes to better environmental performance through reduced energy and water use and lower greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, Cenovus' SAGD extraction technology allows it to access large areas of oil trapped underground, while disturbing only a small surface area of the boreal forest.

Cenovus' low SOR has also helped establish the company as a low-cost producer. Its production costs are extremely competitive when compared with other types of unconventional oil production around the world, such as deep-water drilling or the United States' tight oil.