Getty to tap heavy oil in diatomite
Getty Oil Co. has launched a test program in California to mine a huge deposit of diatomaceous earth. The company will run side by side pilot plants incorporating 2 state-of-the-art extraction processes to extract virtually 100% of the heavy oil contained in the mined material. Economic success of either extraction process would lead to development of a commercial scale mine and plant to yield as much as 20,000 bpd of heavy oil during the next half century. More important success of the Getty project could serve as a springboard for development of other tight, shallow diatomite, oil shale, and tar sands deposits hitherto thought uneconomic. The target is ca 380 million bbl of recoverable 14 to 17 gravity oil locked in tight, shallow diatomite deposits in McKittrick field. That is more than the 218 million bbl of cumulative production from the entire field since its discovery more than 80 yr ago. Although open pit mining of diatomite eventually will cover a 2.5-mile by one-mile surface area, going as deep as 1200 ft, extensive backfilling and reclamation work will leave the landscape restored.
- OSTI ID:
- 5753075
- Journal Information:
- Oil Gas J.; (United States), Vol. 80:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CALIFORNIA
OIL SAND PROCESSING PLANTS
OIL SHALE PROCESSING PLANTS
SURFACE MINING
PLANNING
BITUMENS
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH
EXTRACTION
LAND RECLAMATION
OIL FIELDS
OIL SAND MINING
OIL SANDS
OIL SHALE MINING
OIL SHALES
PETROLEUM
PILOT PLANTS
PRODUCTION
VISCOSITY
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION IX
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MATERIALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TAR
USA
040300* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Drilling
Fracturing & Mining
040402 - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Surface Methods