Cenovus is training new staff to support the development of oil sands in Alberta, Canada, with plans to boost total manpower by six per cent.

Reuters reports that the statement was made while the company announced new estimates for bitumen production yesterday (April 22nd).

Group vice-president John Brannan commented: "We're bringing on additional staff and training them so we can have very smooth operations when we start up the facilities."

Cenovus was spun out of EnCana last year specifically for the development of oil sands in the Alberta region.

The discovery of the vast oil deposits allowed Canada to leapfrog major producer nations such as Iran, the UAE and Libya to become the second largest holder of oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.

However, the cost of extracting and processing the crude from the oil sands is far higher than in conventional fields in countries such as Saudi Arabia, meaning heavy investment in technology and training is necessary to make the projects viable.

Global Education and Training event for Oil and Gas: Refining and Petrochemicals