Abstracts

259 - Assessment of Non-saline Water Use in Alberta’s Upstream
Oil and Gas Sector between 2004 and 2013: Implications on
Forecasted Water Use
T.G. Lemay
Alberta Energy Regulator, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
The extraction of hydrocarbons from Alberta’s subsurface relies heavily upon non-saline
water resources. This water is used in drilling wells, completing wells using techniques
such as hydraulic fracturing, enhancing recovery through water flooding, processing oil
sands ore, and generating steam for in situ oil sands extraction. Over the 2004 to 2013
time period, many changes have occurred in the upstream oil and gas sector in Alberta
that have influenced non-saline water use in the extraction of hydrocarbons. Many of these
changes in non-saline water use are related to the changes in the type of exploration and
production activities being undertaken by upstream oil and gas companies, many of which
are driven by the transition towards a mature basin, changing commodity prices for oil and
natural gas and the fiscal realities of project economics. The shift from drilling predominantly
vertical natural gas wells to drilling horizontal wells targeting liquid hydrocarbons,
and the continued growth in oil sands mining and in-situ oil sands extraction has meant
that non-saline water use has changed over time as well in response to Alberta’s oil and
gas landscape. Our assessment of non-saline water use yielded results that show increases
between 2004 and 2013 by 54% compared to total non-saline water use in 2004. The
largest user of non-saline water in the upstream oil and gas sector is the oil sands mining
sector accounting for 67 to 80% of total non-saline water used. The second largest user
of non-saline water was the enhanced recovery sector, but only during the 2004 to 2008
time period. After 2008, the enhanced recovery sector became the third largest user of
non-saline water. The use of non-saline water for in-situ oil sands extraction represents the
third largest use of non-saline water between 2004 and 2008, and the second largest use of
non-saline water between 2009 and 2013. Non-saline water use for drilling represents the
fourth largest use, and non-saline water in hydraulic fracturing was identified as the smallest
user. The realities of Alberta’s maturing basin, changing commodity prices and project
economics will continue to influence the future of non-saline water use. The relationships
between trends in exploration and development and water use can therefore enable general
estimates of future non-saline water use based on project development scenarios aiding in
the identification of current and future demands for water in Alberta.
303 - Creation of a comprehensive database to characterize
surface and groundwater quality in the Peace River Regional
District, North East BC, Canada
Antonio Barroso & Gilles Wendling
GW Solutions, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
The Peace River Regional District (PRRD) in northeastern British Columbia encompasses
12 million hectares and is well known for the intensive activity of the oil and gas industry.
Currently there are many entities including private consultants, non-governmental
126 IAH-CNC 2015 WATERLOO CONFERENCE