Christina Lake Oil Sands Project

Conklin, Alberta

Kiewit completed two phases of the client’s staged plan for their Christina Lake oil sands development south of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Phase 1 included the construction of a 3,000-barrel-per-day, steam-assisted gravity drainage pilot facility while Phase 2 increased capacity by 22,000 barrels per day. The two phases achieved total design capacity of 25,000 barrels per day in just 10 months and were executed as Kiewit-led engineering, procurement and construction joint venture projects. By self-performing critical path elements, including the fabrication and setting of 118 modules, Kiewit was able to keep the project on time and on budget.

Phase 1 included a central processing facility, steam generation, water treatment, well pads, interconnection of steam gathering pipelines and associated facility work. Kiewit also fabricated and assembled 43 modules, including 14 piperack modules, nine central plant process modules, six well pad injection module pairs, five sleeper modules and a well pad test separator module. Kiewit also constructed a 20 kilometer access road through muskeg to support the pilot plant and future development.
Phase 2 included a central processing facility, well pads, pipeline, an 85-megawatt GE gas turbine, a heat recovery steam generator and a once-through steam generator. Kiewit built and installed an insulated steam and product pipeline system between the central plant site and well pad locations, using aboveground lines on steel supports. The civil work, steel installation, pipe fabrication, field welding and tie-ins to well pads and infrastructure were self-performed by Kiewit.