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Regulatory

The following section provides links to the various documents related to Laricina’s regulatory application process for oil sands development.

Development Applications

Germain Commercial Demonstration Project

The Germain Commercial Demonstration Project is a 100 percent-owned Laricina project to construct, produce and operate a 5,000-barrel-per-day bitumen recovery scheme utilizing a combination of thermal and solvent-assisted processes.

In October 2009 Laricina received ERCB and Alberta Environment approval for its original 1,800-barrel-per-day pilot project at Germain, the application for which was filed in October 2007. During the following two years, Laricina continued to develop its understanding of the Grand Rapids Formation through additional drilling, lab studies and other operating projects.

As a result of this increased knowledge, in November 2009 Laricina filed an amendment to the pilot for a Commercial Demonstration Project that would increase bitumen production to 5,000 barrels per day. The Commercial Demonstration Project offers several advantages over the original pilot. Notably, it will incorporate solvent injection, diluent treating and water recycling. These amendments are expected to result in improved product value, a lower steam to oil ratio and reduced carbon emissions for the same volume of bitumen produced by purely thermal processes, such as SAGD. The Commercial Demonstration Project will be located east of the original pilot project location, which will readily accommodate future Germain growth potential.

Engineering design to transition from basic SAGD to solvent-cyclic SAGD was underway as of early 2010. Laricina is targeting a late 2012 start-up of steam injection.

The Germain Commercial Demonstration Project consists of:

  1. Central processing facility.
  2. Single well pad with 10 SAGD well pairs.
  3. Soil storage area.
  4. Equipment lay-down and staging area.
  5. Observation wells, groundwater monitoring wells, water source wells and water disposal wells.
  6. Electrical substation and utility corridor including roads, gathering lines and power lines.
  7. Associated infrastructure such as storage tanks, surface run-off pond, flow lines and construction and operations camps.

The Commercial Demonstration Project amendment document is available in PDF format and may be downloaded for offline viewing and printing:

(Note: This document’s menu may not function properly on all browsers. To avoid any potential problems, please update Adobe Acrobat to the latest version which has been tested with this PDF.)

The original Germain Pilot application is available in PDF format and may be downloaded for offline viewing and printing:

Copies of the application are available for viewing at the following locations:

  • Wabasca Public Library
    Wabasca, Alberta
    Telephone: 780-891-2203

  • Energy Resources Conservation Board
    Information Services, Calgary Office
    Main Floor, 640- 5 Avenue S.W.
    Calgary, Alberta  T2P 3G4

Website: www.ercb.ca

  • Register of Environmental Assessment Information
    Alberta Environment
    111 Twin Atria Building
    4999 – 98 Avenue
    Edmonton, Alberta
    T6B 2X3

Saleski Pilot

The Saleski Pilot is a 60 percent Laricina-owned project to construct, produce and operate an 1,800-barrel-per-day bitumen recovery scheme. Laricina is project operator.

In July 2009, Laricina received ERCB and Alberta Environment regulatory approval for its Saleski Pilot. 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 the steam requirements while maintaining bitumen production rates. This proposed modification results in minor changes to the surface processing facilities in order to incorporate conventional diluent treating and solvent recovery systems.

The use of a SAGD-based recovery scheme at Saleski will be a first for the carbonates. The Saleski Pilot will allow Laricina to better understand the geological framework and technology necessary for oil recovery within the Grosmont Formation.

Construction of the pilot is well underway and should be completed in fall 2010.

The Saleski Pilot consists of:

  1. A small pilot-scale central processing facility, including conventional diluent treating and solvent recovery systems.
  2. A single well pad with three SAGD well pairs.
  3. An access corridor, borrow pits, camp site, sumps and source water and disposal wells.
  4. A storm water retention pond.

The original application is available in PDF format and may be downloaded for offline viewing and printing:

(Note: This document's menu may not function properly on all browsers. To avoid any potential problems, please update Adobe Acrobat to the latest version which has been tested with this PDF.)

The amendment document is available in PDF format and may be downloaded for offline viewing and printing:

Copies of the applications are available for viewing at the following locations:

  • Wabasca Public Library
    Wabasca, Alberta
    Telephone: 780-891-2203
  • Energy Resources Conservation Board
    Information Services, Calgary Office
    Main Floor, 640- 5 Avenue S.W.
    Calgary, Alberta  T2P 3G4

Website: www.ercb.ca

  • Register of Environmental Assessment Information
    Alberta Environment
    111 Twin Atria Building
    4999 – 98 Avenue
    Edmonton, Alberta
    T6B 2X3

Click here to view the Notice of Application (PDF – 20 KB)

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.
Learn more.

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.
Learn more.