STP expands oil sands operations

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CALGARY, Alberta, May 14 (UPI) -- Canadian oil company Southern Pacific said it aims to produce as much as 12,000 barrels of tar sands oil from a facility in Alberta.

Southern Pacific, known as STP, said it invested more than $440 million on its first oil sands facility. The company aims to produce as much as 12,000 bpd from the site from Alberta and Saskatchewan oil fields.

The company, in a statement, said it aims to start the facility in late 2012.

Oil sands in the Athabasca region of Canada are among the world's richest deposits though environmental groups claim exploiting the unconventional plays is harming the environment.

U.S. lawmakers are at odds over the potential benefits for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport oil from Alberta to the southern U.S. southern coast. First Nations and Canadian lawmakers along the west coast of the country, meanwhile, are upset about plans to build the Northern Gateway pipeline through British Columbia because of environmental concerns.

STP didn't specify a destination for oil processed from the Alberta facility.