Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

STATUS OF OIL SANDS PROJECTS (Underline denotes changes since June 1994)
R&D PROJECTS (Continued)
Estimates indicate sufficient reserves exist in the vicinity of the pilot to support commercial development with a peak gross produc
tion rate of 6,200 barrels of oil per day. Remaining project life is estimated at 15 years with ultimate recovery about 25 million bar
rels.
The Tangleflags pilot has advanced to the continuous steam injection phase. With one horizontal well and four vertical steam injec
tion wells in place, the project was producing at rates in excess of 1,000 barrels of oil per mid day by 1990. Cumulative production
to the middle of 1990 was 425,000 barrels.
The strong performance of the initial well prompted Sceptre to initiate a project expansion which was completed during 1992. For
this purpose a second horizontal producer well and an additional vertical injector well were drilled in the fourth quarter of 1990.
Facilities were expanded to generate more steam and handle increased production volumes in early 1991. During 1992, two steam
injectors were added and a third steam generator was brought into service. In 1993, an additional steam injector and another
horizontal well had been drilled. Three horizontal producers, two vertical wells and a heat recovery system, were added during
1994. The project now includes six horizontal producers and ten vertical steam injectors. A peak project rate of 2,800 barrels per
day was achieved in January 1993, and cumulative oil production reached 2,257 million barrels.
Project Cost: $_20 million invested by end of 1994
- TAR SAND TRIANGLE Kirkwood Oil and Gas (T-630)
Kirkwood Oil and Gas drilled some 16 coreholes by the end of 1982 to evaluate their leases in the Tar Sand Triangle in south
central Utah. They are also evaluating pilot testing of inductive heating for recovery of bitumen. A combined hydrocarbon unit, to
be called the Gunsight Butte unit, is presently being formed to include Kirkwood and surrounding leases within the Tar Sand Tri
angle Special Tar Sand Area (STSA).
Kirkwood is also active in three other STSAs as follows:
Raven Ridge-Rimrock-Kirkwood Oil and Gas has received a combined hydrocarbon lease for 640 acres in the
Raven Ridge-Rim Rock Special Tar Sand Area.
Hill Creek and San Rafael Swell-Kirkwood Oil and Gas is also in the process of converting leases in the Hill
Creek and San Rafael Swell Special Tar Sand Areas.
Kirkwood Oil and Gas has applied to convert over 108,000 acres of oil and gas leases to combined hydrocarbon leases. With these
conversions Kirkwood will hold more acreage over tar sands in Utah than any other organization.
The project has been put on temporary hold.
Project Cost: Unknown
- UNDERGROUND TEST FACILITY Alberta Department of Energy Oil Sands and Research Division (OSRD). Federal Depart
ment of Energy, Mines and Resources (CANMET), Chevron Canada Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Ltd., Conoco Canada Limited,
Suncor, Inc., Petro-Canada Inc., Shell Canada Ltd., Amoco Canada Petroleum Company, Ltd., Japex Oil Sands Ltd., China National
Petroleum Corporation (T-650)
The Underground Test Facility (UTF) was constructed by AOSTRA during 1984-1987, for the purpose of testing novel in situ
recovery technologies based on horizontal wells, in the Athabasca oil sands. The facility is located 70 kilometers northwest of Fort
McMurray, and consists of two access/ventilation shafts, three meters in diameter and 185 meters deep, plus a network of tunnels
driven in the Devonian limestone that underlies the McMurray pay. A custom drilling system has been developed to drill wells up
ward from the tunnels, starting at a shallow angle, and then horizontally through the pay, to lengths of up to 600 meters.
Two processes were selected for initial testing: steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), and Chevron's proprietary HASDrive
process. Steaming of both test patterns commenced in December 1987 and continued up to early 1990. HASDrive was shut in
April 1990 and the SAGD was to continue producing in a blowdown phase until the fall of 1990.
Both tests were technical successes. In the case of the Phase A SAGD test, a commercially viable combination of production rates,
steam/oil ratios, and ultimate recovery was achieved. Complete sand control was demonstrated, and production flowed to surface
for most of the test.
Construction of the Phase B SAGD test commenced in the spring of 1990 with the drivage of 550 meters of additional tunnel, for a
total of about 1,500 meters. Phase B is a direct scale up of the Phase A test, using what is currently thought to be the economic op
timum well length and spacing. The test consists of three pairs of horizontal wells, with completed lengths of 600 meters and
70 meter spacing between pairs. Each well pair consists of a producer placed near the base of the pay, and an injector about
3-53
SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT, JANUARY 1995