Post by Catdaddy on Nov 7, 2007 9:35:07 GMT -5
New oilsands project lands on the horizon
Bruce Johnstone, Saskatchewan News Network
Published: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
www.canada.com:80/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/business/story.html?id=f75d5fdd-0f14-4ed4-9a03-5e4cfa82ad35
REGINA -- Move over, Oilsands Quest. Another Calgary-based oil and gas company has plans to develop oilsands in Saskatchewan, too.
Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. purchased the rights to explore 23,000 acres of land in the Clearwater River area of northwestern Saskatchewan in the October land sale, smack dab in the middle of Oilsands Quest's 36-square-mile exploration area.
"We're the hole in Oilsands Quest's doughnut," said Chris Bloomer, vice-president of heavy oil for Petrobank. Bloomer added while Petrobank's township-sized land base is a fraction of Oilsands Quest's extensive land position, Petrobank has licences, rather than more restrictive permits.
And he said the geology of Petrobank's exploration area is similar to that of Oilsands Quest. "If you look along the Clearwater River, there's bitumen outcrop. Geologically, it's prospective (for bitumen)."
More importantly, Petrobank believes it has the technology to recover a large proportion of the bitumen in place. Oilsands Quest recently announced it has an independent report estimating reserves ranging from 1.1 to 1.5 billion barrels of original bitumen in place.
"You can have all the resources you want, but how do you get it out?" Bloomer said. "Even using SAGD (steam-assisted gravity drainage), with these type of resources, it may not be all that feasible. So you need alternative technology."
That's where Petrobank's THAI (toe-to-heel air injection) technology comes into play. Developed by the University of Bath in the U.K. and licensed by Petrobank subsidiary Archon Technologies, THAI is an "in situ combustion process" that injects air into the oil-bearing formation, Bloomer said.
"We actually gasify a portion of the oil in place -- the bad part of it, the asphaltenes -- to create a very, very high temperature that mobilizes a lot of oil, which drains into the horizontal well and is brought to surface," Bloomer said.
Petrobank has been testing its THAI technology at its Whitesands oilsands project in northern Alberta. "We've been in operation for a year and we're getting very good results," he said.
"Since it's a low-pressure process, it doesn't involve the burning of natural gas or the use of water and is a very efficient process. We expect to get very high recoveries -- 70 to 80 per cent of the oil in place."
While used initially in heavy oil projects, THAI can be adapted to recover bitumen from oilsands deposits using vertical injection and horizontal production wells, he added.
Bloomer believes other companies, including Oilsands Quest, should be using THAI technology to recover heavy oil and bitumen in Saskatchewan and elsewhere. "It's our chip in the game. They (Oilsands Quest) should be interested."
Meanwhile, Petrobank is busy drilling the 17,000 hectares of land in Saskatchewan it acquired earlier this year. The company paid $59.4 million, or 85 per cent, of the total $70.2 million in bonus bids in the April sale.
This year, Petrobank drilled about 60 wells in southeastern Saskatchewan, primarily in the deeper Bakken formation, and plans to drill another 80 wells next year.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
Bruce Johnstone, Saskatchewan News Network
Published: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
www.canada.com:80/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/business/story.html?id=f75d5fdd-0f14-4ed4-9a03-5e4cfa82ad35
REGINA -- Move over, Oilsands Quest. Another Calgary-based oil and gas company has plans to develop oilsands in Saskatchewan, too.
Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. purchased the rights to explore 23,000 acres of land in the Clearwater River area of northwestern Saskatchewan in the October land sale, smack dab in the middle of Oilsands Quest's 36-square-mile exploration area.
"We're the hole in Oilsands Quest's doughnut," said Chris Bloomer, vice-president of heavy oil for Petrobank. Bloomer added while Petrobank's township-sized land base is a fraction of Oilsands Quest's extensive land position, Petrobank has licences, rather than more restrictive permits.
And he said the geology of Petrobank's exploration area is similar to that of Oilsands Quest. "If you look along the Clearwater River, there's bitumen outcrop. Geologically, it's prospective (for bitumen)."
More importantly, Petrobank believes it has the technology to recover a large proportion of the bitumen in place. Oilsands Quest recently announced it has an independent report estimating reserves ranging from 1.1 to 1.5 billion barrels of original bitumen in place.
"You can have all the resources you want, but how do you get it out?" Bloomer said. "Even using SAGD (steam-assisted gravity drainage), with these type of resources, it may not be all that feasible. So you need alternative technology."
That's where Petrobank's THAI (toe-to-heel air injection) technology comes into play. Developed by the University of Bath in the U.K. and licensed by Petrobank subsidiary Archon Technologies, THAI is an "in situ combustion process" that injects air into the oil-bearing formation, Bloomer said.
"We actually gasify a portion of the oil in place -- the bad part of it, the asphaltenes -- to create a very, very high temperature that mobilizes a lot of oil, which drains into the horizontal well and is brought to surface," Bloomer said.
Petrobank has been testing its THAI technology at its Whitesands oilsands project in northern Alberta. "We've been in operation for a year and we're getting very good results," he said.
"Since it's a low-pressure process, it doesn't involve the burning of natural gas or the use of water and is a very efficient process. We expect to get very high recoveries -- 70 to 80 per cent of the oil in place."
While used initially in heavy oil projects, THAI can be adapted to recover bitumen from oilsands deposits using vertical injection and horizontal production wells, he added.
Bloomer believes other companies, including Oilsands Quest, should be using THAI technology to recover heavy oil and bitumen in Saskatchewan and elsewhere. "It's our chip in the game. They (Oilsands Quest) should be interested."
Meanwhile, Petrobank is busy drilling the 17,000 hectares of land in Saskatchewan it acquired earlier this year. The company paid $59.4 million, or 85 per cent, of the total $70.2 million in bonus bids in the April sale.
This year, Petrobank drilled about 60 wells in southeastern Saskatchewan, primarily in the deeper Bakken formation, and plans to drill another 80 wells next year.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007