Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

STATUS OF OIL SANDS PROJECTS (Underline denotes changes since June 1994)
COMMERCIAL PROJECTS (Continued)
The Conoco-Maraven Project will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1. expected to last three years, should produce about
6.500 barrels/day of heavy oil. The final phase, lasting during the remainder of the 35 year agreement, is designed to produce
about 120.000 barrels/day.
Maraven had drilled about 200 wells to define the reserves and has conducted a pilot production operation. About
200 additional wells will be drilled during Phase 1 and about LOOP more wells to attain the 120.000 barrel /day rate planned for
Phase 2. Horizontal wells are being considered: steam injection and periodic well workovers are expected. Fuel for steam gen
eration will be derived initially from a nearby Maraven gas field and, during Phase 2. from gas production associated with the
project heavy oil production-
Construction of a $1 billion upgrader. designed to convert the 9.5API heavy oil into, is scheduled to be constructed on the
Venezuelan coast in 1997. During the targeted Phase 2 operations, the upgrader will produce about 102.000 barrels/day of
syncrude and 3.300 tons/day of coke-
Most of the syncrude will be refined at the Conoco Lake Charles refinery, located in Louisiana on the Gulf coast. Since this
refinery is designed to process the 20-23 API syncrude so that the costs in upgrading the Orinoco heavy oil into 33 API
syncrude are obviated. The coke produced by the upgrader will be sold to Louisiana Carbon, a subsidiary of Conoco, as fuel
for electrical power generation.
Conoco expected that the costs of upgrading and refining the Orinoco heavy oil will be about the same as developing and refin
ing conventional crude into similar refined products.
Project Cost: $1.7 billion
- CROWN OIL SANDS PROJECT Crown
Energy Corporation fT-55)
Crown Energy Corporation announced plans to construct a 6.400 tons/day plant to produce 3.700 barrels/day of oil from oil
sands situated on Asphalt ridge near Vernal. Utah. Production, based on Crown's proprietary extraction technology, is es
timated to be $9 per barrel.
Project Cost: $24 million
- DAPHNE PROJECT Petro-Canada
(T-60)
Petro-Canada is studying the possibility of a tar sands mining/surface extraction project to be located on the Daphne leases 65
kilometers north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. To date over 350 core holes have been drilled at the site to better define the
resource. The project may involve farmout and/or sales of the property.
Currently, the project has been suspended pending further notice.
The Daphne mineable oil sands leases were sold to Syncrude Canada Ltd. effective September 15. 1994. This permanently
closes the Daphne Project as Petro-Canada envisioned it.
- DIATOMACEOUS EARTH PROJECT Texaco
Inc. (T-70)
Texaco placed its Diatomite Project, located at McKittrick in California's Kern County, in a standby condition in 1985, to be
reactivated when conditions in the industry dictate. In 1991 the company is initiating steps to re-evaluate the technology
needed to recover the oil and to evaluate the environmental compliance requirements for a commercial plant. Consideration
will be given to restarting the Lurgi pilot unit.
The Company
estimates that the Project could yield in excess of 300 million barrels of 21 to 23 degrees API oil from the oil-
bearing diatomite deposits which lie at depths up to 1,200 feet. The deposits will be recovered by open pit mining and back fill
ing techniques.
Project Cost: Undetermined
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SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT, JANUARY 1995