Imperial’s Cold Lake Expansion One Step Closer to Getting The Go-Ahead

*CORRECTION Aug. 24: The project is the Cold Lake Expansion, not the Aspen expansion project. 

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Imperial’s Cold Lake Expansion Project has cleared its regulatory hurdles.

The City of Cold Lake had written to the province in May to give some attention to Imperial Oil’s stalled *Aspen expansion project, in hopes that would speed the process along. On Wednesday, the City was given the green light from the province on their end.

In a press release Wednesday, Mayor Craig Copeland said, “We are happy to hear that this project has been approved by the Alberta Energy Regulator.”

Now, it’s up to Imperial to decide whether they still want to pursue the project, which could be worth up to $2 Billion.

“While we understand that Imperial still needs to consider the economics and business environment before announcing whether the project will go ahead, AER’s approval gives our community cause for cautious optimism,” Copeland said.

In late February, Copeland was told by Minister of Indigenous Affairs, Richard Freehan, that consultation on the project had been ongoing since June 2015.  That sparked Cold Lake to act.

**The Cold Lake expansion project would allow Imperial Oil to produce 50,000 more barrels a day.

“We appreciate the time that the Honourable Minister of Energy, Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, and the Honourable Minister of Indigenous Relations, Richard Feehan, took to explain the process and keep us appraised of the project’s status,” Copeland said.

“Our region remains hard hit by the downturn and we hope that this signals the beginning of better times.”