Fort McKay Oil Sands Development Company

The Fort McKay Oil Sands Development Company is a branch of the recently created Fort McKay Business Investment Group and has the mandate to create and execute a plan for responsible resource development of Fort McKay First Nation’s Reserve Land 174C (North and South Blocks).

In 2003, Fort McKay First Nation approved the Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) Settlement Agreement, which included the designation of Reserve 174C for mining purposes.  As a result, the surface and subsurface resources of Lease 174C were allocated to Fort McKay for the development of oil sands-related activities only. The taking of necessary steps to develop the leases for the community’s economic benefit was authorized in 2020 and with those steps the Fort McKay Oil Sands Development business arm of the Nation was born.

Oil Sands Development Highlights

Preliminary assessments show that Lease 174C has about 450 million barrels of bitumen in place. This is not enough for an economic stand-alone oil sands mining project. Therefore, the FMFN Oilsands Project must be developed in partnership with an existing operation.

In 2023, Fort McKay signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Suncor Energy and is working with Industry to negotiate the development of Lease 174C, which includes resource program modelling to evaluate the quantity and quality of the resources on the North and South Blocks. In addition to bitumen, the program provided information on sand, gravel and other materials.

The Project is projected to generate billions of dollars in royalties and business revenue over the coming decades which will contribute to funding the Nation’s infrastructure, social, environmental, health and education programs today and for future generations.

Drilling Program Results

The most recent drilling program concluded in April 2024. The previous Reserve & Resource Estimation Report was updated with this latest data. With this information, Fort McKay is better able to understand the economic potential of Lease 174C for bitumen and other resources.

The results show that most of the economically feasible bitumen is located on the South Block. The North Block may be more suited for sand and gravel operations, storage of overburden, reclamation material, and ancillary activities.

Environmental and Monitoring Work

FMFN has begun initial environmental work including installing wildlife monitoring cameras on the North and South Block and conducting an Historic Resource Baseline Assessment. Additional baseline information will be collected in the near future.

Principles

Fort McKay will be guided by the following principles in developing this project:

  • Early consultation with Fort McKay membership
  • Full community involvement and participation
  • Environmental, social, and governance excellence
  • Enhanced environmental performance including enhanced water management, reclamation plans, and greenhouse gas (GHG) management
  • Optimization of financial, economic, social, and environmental benefits

Looking Ahead

Fort McKay is working towards a goal which would offset the Project’s GHG emissions to achieve net-zero footprint. A forestry conservation project at the Fort McKay Moose Lake Reserve is planned to begin in advance of development on Lease 174C and is expected to offset about 30% of the GHG emissions from the project’s mining operations.

Fort McKay continues to explore options for the development of the North and South Blocks while Fort McKay, Alberta and Canada work together on the development of Fort McKay Royalty Regulations. The Fort McKay Project Team is working diligently to monetize this project in an expedited manner, which will provide for positive cash flow that will benefit the current and future generations in Fort McKay for many years to come.

Contact
Alvaro Pinto
Vice President of Oilsands Development & Sustainability
Phone: (780) 799 6831
Email: apinto@fortmckay.com