The project, which is equally owned by Husky Energy and BP, is located 60km northeast of Fort McMurray, Alberta, and is being developed using steam assisted gravity drainage oil well technology to recover the underground bitumen.
Steam generation has been commenced at the project whereas oil production is expected in the first quarter of 2015.
It is estimated that the field can be in production for more than 50 years.
BP Upstream chief executive Lamar Mckay said: "Sunrise first steam is a landmark for us in 2014, our sixth major project start-up this year, our very first in-situ oil sands operations and a long-life asset which should give us steady production for decades.
"SAGD at Sunrise adds to our expertise in unconventional hydrocarbons including tight oil and gas, leveraging our technology lead in seismic interpretation and our management of giant reservoirs."
The project’s long-term plan comprises three development phases of increasing production capacity to 200,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The first phase is designed for 60,000 bpd of bitumen capacity in two processing plants. This capacity is expected to be reached in the next 18 to 24 months.
The second plant under phase one is scheduled to start operations in the middle of 2015.
A second 70,000 bpd phase is under the design stage and the third phase is in early appraisal.
Canada is estimated to have the third-largest crude oil reserves in the world following Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Image: Canada’s oil sands are estimated to be the third-largest crude oil reserves in the world. Photo: courtesy of Victor Habbick/Freedigitalphotos.net.
