WHITESANDS pilot project
3 april 2005. Bijdrage geleverd door Siem Vaessen.
The WHITESANDS pilot project has also been granted Scientific Research
and Experimental Development tax status from Canada Customs and
Revenue Agency.
This project will be the first field-scale application of the patented
Toe-to-Heel-Air-Injection (THAI) in-situ heavy oil recovery
technology.
THAI is a revolutionary combustion technology for the in-situ recovery
of bitumen and heavy oil that combines a vertical air injection well
with a horizontal production well.
THAI integrates existing proven technologies and provides the
opportunity to create a step change in thedevelopment of heavy oil
resources globally.
THAI has many potential benefits over existing in-situ recovery
methods, such as SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage). These
benefits include higher resource recovery, lower production and
capital costs, minimal usage of natural gas and fresh water, a
partially upgraded crude oil product, reduced diluent requirements for
transportation, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The THAI process also has the potential to operate in lower pressure,
lower quality, thinner and deeper reservoirs than current steam–based
recovery processes.
Petrobank owns all the intellectual property rights associated with
the THAI. technology.
“We are gratified that the rigorous AEUB and AENV technical and
environmental review of the WHITESANDS Project culminated in this
approval, providing further recognition of the technical feasibility
of the THAI process. This reinforces our confidence in the
technology’s ultimate commercial potential,” said Chris J. Bloomer,
President and CEO, WHITESANDS INSITU Ltd.
WHITESANDS, a subsidiary of Petrobank, owns 45 sections of oil sands
leases in the Christina Lake region of Alberta and has rights to use
Petrobank’s patented THAI technology.
A recent independent evaluation of seismic and drilling activity
indicates a potential in-place resource in excess of 200 million
barrels over the 4-section pilot project area.
Integrating the existing geological and geophysical data covering the
remainder of the WHITESANDS lands indicates a total potential in-place
bitumen resource of approximately 1billion barrels.
WHITESANDS is currently arranging equity financing for the estimated
$30 million capital cost of the pilot project. Petrobank anticipates
effecting this financing by issuing up to a 40% equity interest in
WHITESANDS. Pilot design is being finalized and construction will
commence mid-
2004 with first results expected in early-2005. With positive results
from the pilot, the company expects to immediately begin the design
and implementation of a commercial project.
“Petrobank’s strategy is to leverage the THAI technology into large
resource opportunities both domestically and internationally. The
potential impact of the technology on global heavy oil reserves is
staggering, considering the opportunity to not only increase the
profitability of heavy oil and bitumen production, but also to
significantly increase the economically exploitable resource base
worldwide,” said John D. Wright, President and CEO, Petrobank Energy
and Resources Ltd.
THAI Overview
THAI is a new combustion process for the in-situ recovery of bitumen
and heavy oil, that combines a vertical air injection well with a
horizontal production well. During the process a combustion front is
created where part of the oil in the reservoir is burned, generating
heat which reduces the viscosity of the oil allowing it to flow by
gravity to the horizontal production well. The combustion front sweeps
the oil from the toe to the heel of the horizontal producing well
recovering an estimated 80 percent of the original oil-in-place while
partially upgrading the crude oil in-situ.
The THAI process was discovered in 1993 and has been continually
advanced through numerous repeatable physical model laboratory runs
and successful field scale numerical simulation models. THAI is
patented in Canada, the United States and Venezuela. In 2003,
Petrobank Energy and Resources acquired all intellectual property
rights to THAI.
Potential Benefits
THAI has many potential benefits, including lower per unit production
cost, minimal need to burn natural gas, minimal use of fresh water,
reduction or elimination of diluent for transportation, a partially
upgraded crude oil product at the wellhead, and lower greenhouse gas
emissions. THAI also has the potential to operate in lower pressure,
lower quality, thinner and deeper reservoirs than current steam-based
processes.
Process Description
Air is injected at the top of the reservoir near the toe of the
horizontal well. After combustion commences, very hot combustion gases
mix with the oil ahead of the front, reducing its viscosity and
upgrading it through thermal cracking. The combustion gases, oil and
steam (from connate water) drain into the horizontal production well.
Drainage occurs via gravity and pressure differential into the
horizontal well at the base of the formation. Fluids are moved to the
surface via combustion gas lift, eliminating the need for artificial
lift. Coke, shown in red in the schematic, is left behind the moveable
oil thus providing the fuel to sustain the combustion front. The
process operates in a stable and continuous manner. All of the wells
and surface facilities are conventional oil and gas materials,
equipment and processes. The in-situ processes are well known,
understood and, similar to those of a refinery coker.
http://www.processwest.ca/Past_Issues.htm?ID=323
