OIL SANDS: Shell Canada withdraws application for Pierre River

ALBERTA – The shrinking oil price is taking its inevitable toll on oil sands projects. The latest casualty is Shell Canada's Pierre River project. Shell announced on Feb. 23 that is withdrawing the regulatory application for the mine.

The Pierre River project would have created a new 200,000 bbl/d oil sands mine north of Fort McMurray. The project belongs to the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, a joint venture of Shell (60% owner and operator), Chevron Canada (20%) and Marathon Oil Sands (20%).

Shell has informed the joint review panel that it indents to update the development timeline for Pierre River.

"The Pierre River mine remains a very long term opportunity for us but it's not currently a priority," said Lorraine Mitchelmore, Shell Canada president and executive VP of heavy oil. "Our current focus is on making our heavy oil business as economically and environmentally competitive as possible. We will continue to hold the leases and can reapply in the future when the time is right."

More information about Shell's other oil sands operations is posted at Shell.ca.