About Oil Sands

Laricina is focused on leading-edge bitumen (oil sands) exploration, development and production. For reasons of resource opportunity, cost-efficiency and environmental footprint, Laricina has chosen to focus exclusively on in situ or drillable recovery rather than surface mining opportunities.

What are oil sands?

The oil sands are buried sedimentary deposits composed primarily of sand, the bitumen hydrocarbon, mineral-rich clays and water. Bitumen is a heavy, viscous form of crude oil that can be recovered from the surface through mining techniques or from deeper underground using drilled wells and some form of chemical or thermal stimulation, which is known as in situ production. The depth of the resource determines the development approach. Generally, 100 metres is considered the lower practical limit of surface mining.

Alberta’s oil sands are contained in three regions: Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River. Respectively, these areas hold approximately 80 percent, 12 percent and 8 percent of Alberta’s estimated bitumen resource. Athabasca is the most developed of the three regions, holding all of Alberta’s large oil sands surface mines as well as numerous in situ projects. Cold Lake has a number of thermal developments, including Canada’s first large in situ venture. Peace River is the least developed region but has seen substantial investment in thermal as well as primary “cold-pumped” projects in recent years.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) estimates the total bitumen resource-in-place in Alberta to be approximately 1.7 trillion barrels (which would be greater than all of the world’s known conventional reserves). Of this amount, 315 billion barrels are considered potentially recoverable using future technologies and economic conditions, and of that amount, 170 billion barrels are considered to be established or proved reserves that can be recovered using current, known technology. This estimate has been accepted by major international forecasting agencies such as the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Of the estimated 1.7 trillion barrels of total bitumen resource-in-place, roughly 450 billion barrels are attributed to carbonate formations. At 318 billion barrels, the Grosmont Formation is by far the largest carbonate reservoir in Alberta. The Grosmont Formation is a dolomitized, shallow marine and tidal flat carbonate complex characterized by high bitumen saturation, extensive vertical fracturing, karsting and high permeability. With the successful development of the Grosmont carbonates, Canada’s oil reserves could surpass those of Saudi Arabia.

Overall, 18 percent of Alberta’s bitumen reserves are estimated to be recoverable from mining and 82 percent from in situ production. In 2008, approximately 55 percent of the crude bitumen produced came from mining projects and 45 percent from in situ production. According to the Government of Alberta, Alberta’s oil sands production averaged 1.3 million barrels per day in 2008, representing the majority of Canada’s crude oil production.

Laricina Live

Learn more about Laricina’s oil sands innovations, including initiatives in the carbonate formation, use of core imaging tools, and solvent-assisted process development.

Photo Gallery

See what's going on at Laricina's SAGD operations and who's making it happen. Click to view our Photo Gallery.

Operations

Laricina's land base encompasses the Grosmont, Grand Rapids, Winterburn and McMurray formations and include five development areas – Germain, Saleski, Burnt Lakes, Poplar Creek and Conn Creek.
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Technology & Innovation

Laricina is able to advance new and innovative in situ recovery technologies through a combination of lab-based research, advanced simulation modelling and in-field testing.
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© 2009 Laricina Energy