Projects / Christina Lake

Christina Lake

Cenovus Energy Inc.
Turnaround in model: Oct 2026 (+20.0 kb/d, Christina Lake F/G turnaround tail)SAGDCVE

OperatorCenovus Energy Inc.
TypeSAGD
TickerCVE
ST53 schemeChristina Lake
DescriptionChristina Lake is a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) project in northeast Alberta producing diluted bitumen. It is Cenovus's largest in-situ asset. It is a separate project from Christina Lake North (the former MEG Energy asset), which is tracked separately under meg_christina_lake; the two share the same ST53 scheme name but are different facilities with different ownership histories.
Source: Cenovus Energy, Second quarter 2026 results, 2026-07-29
Source: Oil Sands Magazine, Christina Lake project profile, 2026-08-11
StatusOperating. The Narrows Lake tie-back was integrated into the existing Christina Lake facility (Narrows Lake was originally planned as a stand-alone 130,000 bbl/d SAGD facility but was never sanctioned).
Source: Oil Sands Magazine, Cenovus outlines optimization plans for its SAGD assets, 2023-07-27
Nameplate capacityNameplate capacity of 260,000 bbl/d of bitumen, based on AER and facility-operator data. Note: secondary-sourced.
Source: Oil Sands Magazine, Christina Lake project profile, 2026-08-11
Start-up / phasesnot tracked in the public data used here
Ownership / JV splitCenovus Energy Inc. owns 100% and operates Christina Lake, effective May 17, 2017, when ConocoPhillips completed the sale of its 50% non-operated interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake (FCCL) partnership to Cenovus.
Source: ConocoPhillips, ConocoPhillips Completes Sale of Foster Creek Christina Lake Partnership Interest and Western Canada Deep Basin Gas Assets to Cenovus, 2017-05-17
Product and dispositionBitumen: flexible disposition, dilbit to market or upgrader feed (economically optimized)
Source: Dashboard grade-layer panel (leaf mapping lineage); disposition defaults from annotations/maintenance_disposition_history.md
Process / technologySAGD, producing from the Wabiskaw-McMurray formation; product is diluted bitumen.
Source: Oil Sands Magazine, Christina Lake project profile, 2026-08-11
Froth treatmentnot applicable (in-situ / upgrading)
Interconnectsnot tracked in the public data used here
Growth / expansionsThe Narrows Lake lease was developed as a tie-back into the Christina Lake central processing facility via a 17-km connection (about $300 million). First oil was achieved in July 2025; AER ST53 reports Narrows Lake as its own scheme, ramping from 1.2 kb/d in Jul 2025 to 80.2 kb/d in Jul 2026, above the original 20,000 to 30,000 bbl/d company guidance. Narrows Lake is tracked as its own model leaf (narrows_lake) with its forecast from observed history; no generic growth is added on top.
Source: Cenovus Energy, Q3 2024 results news release, 2024-10-31, https://www.cenovus.com/News-and-Stories/News-releases/2024/2972380
Source: Source: Alberta Major Projects, Narrows Lake Tie-Back to Christina Lake, https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Narrows-Lake-Tie-Back-to-Christina-Lake/11241
Source: AER ST53, verified 2026-09-23

At the separate Christina Lake North facility, the first of two new steam generators was expected online by year-end 2026, with redevelopment production expected to rise in the second half of 2026. See meg_christina_lake for the North facility.
Source: Cenovus Energy, Second quarter 2026 results, 2026-07-29
Company-disclosed maintenanceMaintenance work impacted production at Christina Lake in Q2 2023 (average 234,900 bbl/d in the quarter, down 2,300 bbl/d quarter over quarter); no additional maintenance was planned at the facility for the remainder of 2023. Planned turnaround frequency and duration not disclosed in reviewed sources.
Source: Oil Sands Magazine, Cenovus outlines optimization plans for its SAGD assets, 2023-07-27
Operating costsnot disclosed in reviewed sources

Blank "not tracked" cells are facts not present in the public data used here. They are labeled, never estimated. Filing-sourced facts carry their document name and date; where sources disclose multiple bases for one figure, all are shown.

Production

403.8 kb/d
latest actual, Jul 2026 (Christina Lake (Cenovus))
357.7 kb/d
12-month forecast average, Oct 2026 to Sep 2027
Christina Lake (Cenovus) monthly production Christina Lake (Cenovus) monthly production kb/d 0.0 125.0 250.0 375.0 500.0 Aug 25: 303.0 kb/d Sep 25: 296.9 kb/d Oct 25: 288.7 kb/d Nov 25: 276.1 kb/d Dec 25: 267.6 kb/d Jan 26: 403.2 kb/d Feb 26: 393.7 kb/d Mar 26: 390.8 kb/d Apr 26: 381.0 kb/d May 26: 390.3 kb/d Jun 26: 376.2 kb/d Jul 26: 403.8 kb/d Aug 26: 356.5 kb/d Sep 26: 308.4 kb/d Oct 26: 340.9 kb/d Nov 26: 359.3 kb/d Dec 26: 352.4 kb/d Jan 27: 360.2 kb/d Feb 27: 365.6 kb/d Mar 27: 362.0 kb/d Apr 27: 362.4 kb/d May 27: 354.9 kb/d Jun 27: 351.7 kb/d Jul 27: 380.8 kb/d Aug 27: 374.3 kb/d Sep 27: 327.7 kb/d 327.7 Aug 25 Oct 25 Dec 25 Feb 26 Apr 26 Jun 26 Aug 26 Oct 26 Dec 26 Feb 27 Apr 27 Jun 27 Aug 27 Sep 27
Vintage: AER ST53 actuals through 2026-07 (ST39 through 2026-05), pulled 2026-09-22; Aug-Sep 2026 nowcast estimated, built 2026-09-23; forecast built 2026-09-22. Solid orange shading marks months with modeled maintenance on this series. Series: Christina Lake (Cenovus).
Actuals (AER)Nowcast (model est.)Forecast (model)Modeled maintenance month
Latest actuals (kb/d)
SeriesFeb 2026Mar 2026Apr 2026May 2026Jun 2026Jul 2026
Christina Lake (Cenovus)393.7390.8381.0390.3376.2403.8
First forecast months (kb/d)
SeriesOct 2026Nov 2026Dec 2026Jan 2027Feb 2027Mar 2027
Christina Lake (Cenovus)340.9359.3352.4360.2365.6362.0

Full 26-month table with drill-down lives in the trading dashboard. Blank cells are months AER has not published yet, not zeros.

How to read Christina Lake (Cenovus): Oct 2026 carries the Christina Lake F/G turnaround tail (-20 kb/d, assumed repo-carry), modeled down at this leaf. The Sep 2027 dip to 243.5 is a seasonal factor repeating prior Septembers, not a scheduled event. Maintenance modeled down at this leaf: Christina Lake F/G turnaround tail, Oct 2026 -20 kb/d. ASSUMED repo-carry, not company-stated: Cenovus Q2 2026 results (2026-07-29) state no Oil Sands maintenance planned in Q4 2026, and the next F/G turnaround is guided for 2031. Growth modeled up at this leaf: Christina Lake North expansion ramp, +4.1 kb/d Oct 2026 rising linearly to +19.3 kb/d Sep 2027 (+40 kb/d by Dec 2028). Source: Cenovus Q1 2026 results news release (2026-05-06). Approved 2026-09-23.

Maintenance

In the model math

Forward calendar (Oct 2026 to Sep 2027)

TimingEventImpact kb/dStandingSource
Oct 2026 to Dec 2026 (quarter precision)No turnaround in window (stated)not stated (null, never estimated)Guidance sourcedCenovus Energy Inc., Cenovus announces second-quarter 2026 results (2026-07-29)
2031 (year precision)Scheduled (future window)not stated (null, never estimated)Guidance sourcedCenovus Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc. Q2 2026 earnings call transcript (2026-07-29) (2026-07-29)

Pattern-indicated entries are indicators only: they carry no volume and never enter model math. Math requires public-confirmed guidance.

Outlook

Named assumptions: Oct 2026 carries the Christina Lake F/G turnaround tail (-20 kb/d, assumed repo-carry), modeled down at this leaf. The Sep 2027 dip to 243.5 is a seasonal factor repeating prior Septembers, not a scheduled event. Maintenance modeled down at this leaf: Christina Lake F/G turnaround tail, Oct 2026 -20 kb/d. ASSUMED repo-carry, not company-stated: Cenovus Q2 2026 results (2026-07-29) state no Oil Sands maintenance planned in Q4 2026, and the next F/G turnaround is guided for 2031. Growth modeled up at this leaf: Christina Lake North expansion ramp, +4.1 kb/d Oct 2026 rising linearly to +19.3 kb/d Sep 2027 (+40 kb/d by Dec 2028). Source: Cenovus Q1 2026 results news release (2026-05-06). Approved 2026-09-23.

Confirmation status: model forecast; maintenance impacts enter the math only from public-confirmed guidance.

Market relevance

In-situ bitumen has flexible disposition (dilbit to market or upgrader feed). In the model, Christina Lake output is unchanged by upgrader outages and any upgrader-bound share is assumed diverted to dilbit, so its 357.7 kb/d 12-month forecast average is a steady contributor to marketable dilbit across the tradable window.

Basis: model-derived from the dashboard series above; no external view is added.

Related weekly notes

Sources

Christina Lake (Cenovus)
Source: AER ST53, commercial scheme mapping (repo annotations/projects.yaml)
Vintage: AER ST53 actuals through 2026-07, pulled 2026-09-22; model nowcast (_seasonal_baseline + confirmed maintenance), built 2026-09-23
Method: actuals: ST53 scheme observed, grossed up by 1.27 to ST3 in-situ level (mapped projects cover 79.0%). forecast: _seasonal_baseline (trailing-12m mean x seasonal factor from last 3 complete years). Confirmed maintenance is deducted at this leaf after the baseline (see Why).

Full citation block

Sources
PublisherDatasetURLPublishedVintage / coverageRetrieved
Alberta Energy RegulatorST3: Alberta Energy Resource Industries Monthly Statisticshttps://www.aer.ca/data-and-performance/data-and-publications/statistical-reports/st3MonthlyActuals through 2026-07 (latest file vintage 2026-08-27)2026-09-22
Alberta Energy RegulatorST53: In-situ project data (BITUMEN sheet)https://www.aer.ca/data-and-performance/data-and-publications/statistical-reports/st53MonthlyActuals through 2026-072026-09-22
Alberta Energy RegulatorST39: Mine and upgrader facility dataURL not recorded in repoMonthlyActuals through 2026-052026-09-22
Canada Energy RegulatorPipeline throughput, capacity and apportionment (open data)https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/open/energy/throughput-capacity/Monthly, ~3-month lagJan 2018 to Jun 20262026-09-22
Company disclosuresQuarterlies, budget releases, investor presentations, earnings callsURLs per record in annotations/maintenance_forward.yamlAs publishedForward maintenance calendar window 2026-10-01 to 2027-09-30, compiled 2026-09-222026-09-22
Heavy Reading modelWCSB S&D dashboard build (21 granular leaves, grade layer, maintenance math)No public URL (repo build)Per buildForecast built 2026-09-22; Aug-Sep 2026 nowcast built 2026-09-232026-09-23

Every number on this page traces to a row above. Anything missing its own source line is flagged in place; nothing ships with an unsourced number.

Heavy Reading · the WCSB supply letter.
Public information only: AER ST3/ST39/ST53 and company disclosures via the WCSB S&D model. Nothing here is licensed data, so this page renders the same with or without ?public=1.