Safety Excellence achieved on Syncrude Expansion Project

(Fort McMurray, Alberta) – Syncrude Canada Ltd.’s Upgrader Expansion (UE-1) Project recently achieved a new mark in safety excellence by surpassing five million work hours with no recordable Lost Time Injuries.*

The construction workforce, including members of the Northern Alberta Building Trades, engineers and office personnel, began this streak in February 2004 proving that working safely can be accomplished even during northern Alberta’s harsh winter climate.

“Our ultimate goal is to have an injury-free workplace for our Syncrude employees, contractors and construction workforce,” said Charles Ruigrok, Syncrude’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is a fantastic accomplishment and one we hope we can build on, site-wide.”

Syncrude is undergoing a $7.8 billion expansion of its upgrader and Aurora mine which will see production increase to 350,000 barrels a day of a higher grade, lower sulphur crude oil known as Syncrude Sweet Premium. UE-1 is currently one of the largest construction projects in the world equal in size to Syncrude’s original upgrader, which began operations in July 1978.

In 2003, Syncrude safety performance led Alberta industry despite a 45 per cent increase in contractors as a result of work associated with the UE-1 Project. “The fact much of our expansion project is within close proximity to our operating units and production of Syncrude Sweet Blend adds to the significance of this achievement,” said Ruigrok.

Some of the safety programs incorporated into the UE-1 Project which helped in achieving five million work hours LTI-free include daily briefings with workers to identify potential hazards and concerns, risk assessments performed before every critical task, and a mentoring program designed to pass on information and experience between journeymen and apprentices of the various trades.

Syncrude will celebrate this accomplishment with its UE-1 contractors on Thursday, August 19th.

* Lost Time Injuries refer to work missed due to an injury sustained while at work.

Joint Venture Ownership
The Syncrude Project is a joint venture operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. and owned by Canadian Oil Sands Limited, ConocoPhillips Oilsands Partnership II, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Nexen Inc., and Petro-Canada Oil and Gas.

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