About Oil Sands
Oil Sands are composed primarily of sand, bitumen, mineral rich clays and water. Bitumen is a heavy, viscous form of oil that can be recovered, depending on depth, physically through mining techniques, or thermally, through in situ production.
According to the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) the total Alberta in-place bitumen volume is approximately 1.7 trillion barrels, of which 315 billion barrels are potentially recoverable using future technologies and economic conditions, and of these, 173 billion barrels are considered to be established or proven reserves that can be recovered using current, known technology. Alberta’s oil sands are contained in three areas: Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River. The breakdown of initial in-place bitumen volumes for the respective areas is 80%, 12% and 8%.
Overall, 18% of Alberta’s oil sands are estimated to be recovered from mining and 82% from in situ production. In 2007, approximately 55% of the crude bitumen produced came from mining projects and 45% from in situ production.
About a quarter of the mineable established reserves are under active development, with a number of projects in varying stages of expansion, construction, regulatory application or planning and design. Mining opportunities have become much more difficult to find and develop due to the earlier focus on near-surface deposits, large concentrated reserve base, ultimate project scale and cost.
Less than 2% of the in situ established reserves are currently under active development, with over 82% of cumulative production from the Cold Lake area. This leaves a tremendous untapped potential for future in situ projects.
The two most common methods of in situ production recovery are cyclic steam stimulation and steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). Technological enhancements to both of these recovery schemes will be crucial to improving the economics of in situ production. Producing improvements through technical innovation in start-up, facility design, operations and energy requirements for steam generation provide an opportunity to influence the next steps of in situ production. Companies with experienced people who have technical expertise will be positioned to leverage this expertise for future growth in this huge untapped potential. This is the opportunity for Laricina.
