The Syncrude oilsands project reached a major milestone in mid-October, producing its three billionth barrel.

The project has produced more than any other single source of oil in Canadian history, Syncrude said.

The project, which started operating in 1978, reached its first billion barrels in 1998 and its second billion in 2008.

Syncrude’s production milestone maintains its position at the lead of a small club of Canadian oil projects: Suncor Energy’s oilsands Base Plant achieved one million barrels in 2006; Imperial Oil’s Cold Lake thermal oilsands project achieved one billion barrels in 2009; Hibernia, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, marked its one-billionth barrel in December 2016; and the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, majority owned by Canadian Natural Resources Limited, reached the one-billion barrel milestone in July 2018.