Laricina Energy Ltd. was a private Canadian oil producing company engaged in exploration in North-Eastern Alberta. The company targeted oil sands opportunities outside of the Athabasca mining area and was focusing on in situ plays in the Grosmont and Grand Rapids formations. Its headquarters were located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History It was founded in 2005 by President and CEO Glen C. Schmidt. The company takes its name from the Latin root for the tamarack, a hardy species of tall and skinny trees that thrive on the northern fringe of tree growth in North America. Mr. Schmidt said the tamarack is known for being the first tree to arrive in an area. Since its inception, the company has raised approximately $1.2 billion (Canadian) in equity financing and has accumulated 61,703 net hectares. A key investor is the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which invested $250 million in exchange for 17.1 per cent ownership and the right to nominate someone for election to Laricina's board of directors, as long as CPPIB maintains a 10-per-cent holding. The company has established four main development areas in Germain, Saleski, Poplar and Conn Creek within the Athabasca oil sands region, with more than of estimated exploitable net bitumen. According to GLJ Petroleum Consultants in Calgary, Laricina is one of the four emerging oil sands producers with more than five billion barrels of recoverable oil resources. Laricina Energy was acquired by CNRL in September 2018 in a deal worth $46.3 million. Saleski Pilot In the winter of 2009 Laricina conducted a series of non-thermal test with solvents on a well in its Grosmont formation at Saleski. The test confirmed the overall capacity and quality of the bitumen reservoirs within the carbonates. In the fall of 2010 the company completed construction of its Saleski Pilot near Wabasca, Alberta. Saleski is the world’s first Grosmont carbonate oil sands project that uses steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology, and the first SAGD project to produce bitumen from Alberta’s Grosmont Formation, Alberta’s second-largest In situ oil sands resource. The Saleski Pilot is licensed for of production. Steam injection started in December 2010 and first oil production was achieved in April 2011. On July 14, 2011 Laricina Energy was selected as one of six innovative energy projects by the Alberta Government to receive funding under the Innovative Energy Technologies Program in support of its Saleski Grosmont Formation steam-assisted gravity drainage pilot.