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Korean-owned Harvest Operations Corp. has cut 105 jobs and will delay start-up of its 10,000-barrel-per-day BlackGold thermal oilsands project until benchmark New York oil prices improve to above $60 US per barrel.

The Calgary-based arm of Korea National Oil Corp. said it has completed construction of well pads, connecting pipelines and the central processing facility at BlackGold but will perform only “minor pre-commissioning activities” throughout 2015.

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“In a very low price environment we see today, it does not make commercial sense to start steaming and trying to start production,” chief operating officer John Wearing said on a Wednesday morning conference call.

“Our target for start-up would be somewhere above $60 WTI (West Texas Intermediate), which would give us, we think, commercial viability to start the project.”

On Wednesday, WTI closed at $50.09.

Delaying start-up is an unusual move for a producer’s first oilsands project as most want to prove the resource to investors and start generating returns.