SilverBirch: tackling the oil sands in a fresh guise
HAVING shed its most cumbersome, problematic asset, a new companyhas surfaced in Alberta's oil sands, eager to develop its remaining0.9bn barrels of mineable bitumen resources. And SilverBirch Energy is adamant that it has no immediate intention of seeking buyers for those properties.
SilverBirch,formerly UTS Energy, plans to spend C$43m ($41.6m) over the next 18months drilling 40 to 50 wells on its Frontier and Equinox holdings,shared jointly with mining company Teck Resources, and filing project applications with regulators in 2011, says chief executive HowardLutley. The plans involve a combination of thermal-recovery projects(which could start production in 2016) and mining operations (unlikelyto produce first oil before 2020).
It's a whole new beginningfor SilverBirch, which, as UTS Energy, sold a 60% stake in the FortHills mega-project to Petro-Canada and 20% to gain the mining expertiseof Teck before Suncor ...
Link to full article in Petroleum Economist