Saleski

Saleski (like Germain) is located within the West Athabasca oil sands region and lies approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The target zone is the Grosmont Formation, a dolomitized, shallow marine and tidal flat carbonate complex lying at a depth of approximately 325 metres. The Grosmont is characterized by extensive vertical fracturing, karsting and high permeability, i.e., excellent reservoir characteristics. The targeted horizons within the Grosmont Formation are the aerially extensive C and D units, which have a combined gross pay thickness of over 40 metres.

[ Click here to visit our Saleski photo gallery. ]

The Saleski leases cover a total area of 17,152 gross hectares. Laricina holds a 60 percent working interest and is the project operator. Since acquiring the lease, we have carried out an extensive delineation program to determine the extent of the reservoir and better understand its physical characteristics. Laricina has determined that modern horizontal well SAGD technology is a viable recovery process for this reservoir.

On July 22, 2009, Laricina received approval from the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) and Alberta Environment to proceed with the Saleski SAGD pilot. This was a huge milestone in Laricina’s development as it was the Company’s first project approval. On September 25, 2009, Laricina filed an amendment which proposed to add solvents to the base SAGD process. This amendment was approved by the ERCB on April 30, 2010. The addition of solvents will help to lower steam requirements while maintaining bitumen production rates, improving the steam to oil ratio.

Laricina is exploring further recovery techniques at Saleski. The stacked zones of the Grosmont carbonates are ideal for the use of Laricina’s new, patent-pending heat harvesting technique, known as passive heat assisted recovery methods (PHARM). With a successful application of PHARM, heating the Upper Grosmont D zone would generate incremental production from the lower zone, Grosmont C. Laricina expects this technique to further lower the steam to oil ratio for the project, thereby reducing water and natural gas requirements even more.

Saleski will be the world’s first carbonate project utilizing SAGD technology and the only project to produce bitumen from Alberta’s Grosmont Formation. The purpose of the pilot to allow Laricina to better understand the geological framework and technology necessary for commercial-scale, long-term oil recovery from the Grosmont. Interest in the Grosmont lies in the fact it is estimated by the ERCB to contain approximately 318 billion barrels of bitumen and is the second largest bitumen-bearing formation in Alberta.

Following the key July 2009 approval, Laricina has been extremely active at Saleski. Detailed engineering was completed in the fourth quarter of 2009 and the drilling of the four additional horizontal wells began in the first quarter of 2010. In 2008 Laricina drilled the first two horizontal wells that provided valuable information to improve our drilling efficiencies in winter 2009-2010. Two of the well pairs were drilled into the D zone at 360 metres and one into the C zone at 377 metres.

Laricina also constructed a 32-km, high-grade all weather road, built a permanent work camp and drilled and tied-in water source and water disposal wells. Facilities field construction was approximately 20 percent complete by 2010 spring break-up. Completion of the facility construction is due in fall 2010.

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