Oil from deep sands

Journal Article · · Baroid News Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5129325

Owens, W H

Near Cold Lake, in NE Alberta, Esso Resources Canada Ltd. proposes to build a massive commercial plant to tap rich reserves of bitumen, or heavy oil, buried deep in sands approximately 1600 ft below the ground. The in situ steam injection extraction technique which is planned has been tested in pilot plants at the site for the past 17 yr. It also has been used successfully outside Canada as, for example, in the heavy oil areas of California. However, nothing as big as the proposed full-scale recovery project at Cold Lake has been attempted before. Since the early 1960s a continuous and vigorous program of research, both in the field and laboratory, has been underway to design the best system for recovering the billions of barrels of oil trapped in the sands. By the late 1980s, synthetic crude from the project could be flowing to Canadian refineries at the rate of 140,000 bb/day. This is the equivalent of approximately 10% of the country's total oil production at the start of the present decade.

• OSTI ID: 5129325
• Journal Information: Baroid News Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Baroid News Bull.; (United States) Vol. 32:1; ISSN BNBUD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
ALBERTA
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CANADA
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COLD LAKE DEPOSIT
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
OIL SANDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PLANNING
PRODUCTION
RECOVERY
STEAM INJECTION
SYNTHETIC FUELS
SYNTHETIC PETROLEUM
TAR