Located 120 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray, Firebag, which takes its name from the leather bag used by Indigenous peoples to carry hot coals for fire-starting purposes, produces up to 215,000 barrels of oil a day. It’s our largest in situ operations, with about 600 wells and a workforce that fly-in from across the country.
As the third commercial in situ steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) facility built in Alberta, Firebag produced its first million barrels in 2004 and reached a 750-million-barrel milestone in 2022.
Proposed Firebag update
Suncor is proposing to extend the Firebag Project footprint to enable sustaining resource extraction on the entirety of the Firebag leases. Suncor proposes to modify the Firebag Project Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) approval boundary and the Oil Sands Conservation Act (OSCA) Project Area to increase the area in which the Firebag Project can access resources.
Additionally, Suncor is proposing to update the Firebag Project approved production limits to allow accelerated bitumen extraction, increasing total production capacity by 331,500 b/d to 700,000 b/d.
Public notifications
Cogeneration power at Firebag
Firebag’s five cogeneration units generate approximately 425 MW of low-GHG, low-cost electrical power. Any excess power that is not needed for operations is provided to Alberta’s electricity grid, which helps lower the carbon intensity for the province.
Aerial view of Firebag in situ site.
