Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd. said yesterday it is resuming full output at its Alberta oil sands project after six weeks of curtailment because returns on the extra-heavy crude have improved. Connacher said it expected to reach full production of 9,000 barrels a day from the steam-driven Great Divide project by the end of February. The company cut output back to 5,000 barrels a day when the operation became unprofitable. A narrowing discount for oil sands-derived bitumen versus benchmark light oil, and sharply higher prices for crude delivered a few months down the road rather than right away, combined to allow the resumption, Connacher said. It had been the first notable Canadian oil sands producer to chop production as oil prices tumbled to below $40 a barrel from a record in July above $147.