Cenovus Energy
Cenovus Energy Inc. (pronounced se-nō-vus) is an integrated oil and natural gas company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Cenovus was formed in 2009 when Encana Corporation split into two distinct companies, with Cenovus becoming focused on oil sands assets. In 2017, Cenovus purchased ConocoPhillips' 50 percent share of their Foster Creek Christina Lake (FCCL) oil sands projects and most of their conventional assets in Alberta and British Columbia, including the Deep Basin. Cenovus completed the acquisition of Husky Energy for C$3.9 billion in stock in January 2021. Cenovus is headquartered in Calgary's Brookfield Place, having  completed a move from the neighbouring Bow in 2019. Operations. Oil sands. Cenovus has two projects producing oil in the oil sands – Foster Creek and Christina Lake (Alberta). Both projects use a drilling method called steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). On May 17, 2017, Foster Creek and Christina Lake became 100 percent owned and operated by Cenovus. Conventional oil and gas. Cenovus once held conventional oil and natural gas operations across Alberta and Saskatchewan, including the Weyburn oilfield in Saskatchewan, which is the largest enhanced oil recovery operation in Canada. It's also the site of the largest geological greenhouse  gas storage project in the world, with about 30 million tonnes of safely stored underground and extensively studied by researchers as part of the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale Monitoring and Storage Project. In May 2017, Cenovus assumed ownership of ConocoPhillips' conventional assets in Alberta and British Columbia. Cenovus’s current conventional assets include the Deep Basin, a liquids-rich natural gas fairway located in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, and the Marten Hills heavy oil project. The Deep Basin asset comprises approximately 2.8 million net acres of land and produced more than 97,000 barrels of oil  equivalent a day in 2019. Cenovus also holds a significant land position in the Marten Hills region for potential development. Refining. Cenovus has 50 percent ownership in two refineries in the United States: the Wood River Refinery (Illinois) and Borger, Texas refinery. Phillips 66 is the co-owner and operator. Transportation. Cenovus owns a crude-by-rail loading facility near Edmonton, Alberta – the Bruderheim Energy Terminal. The company was recognized for its rail safety performance in 2016, and for safe transportation of chemical products in 2017. Technology. The primary technology Cenovus uses at its Foster Creek and Christina Lake projects  is called steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). Cenovus also applies different associated technologies to enhance the SAGD process, such as electric submersible pumps at Foster Creek and solvent aided process (SAP) at Christina Lake. In 2011, the company began applying its blowdown boiler technology to improve the efficiency of water use at its oil sands operations. In 2013, Cenovus developed its SkyStrat™ drilling rig that allows an exploratory rig to be flown into remote areas by helicopter piece-by-piece, set up to drill a test well, dismantled and airlifted away. The process requires no roads, meaning little disturbance  to the boreal forest. The company received an Environmental Performance award for the SkyStrat™ program. Pathways. Cenovus is a member of Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero initiative, an alliance of oil sands companies working collectively with the federal and Alberta governments to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the companies oil sands operations by 2050.