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Butane technology to be used in Cenovus-ConocoPhillips project


CARRIE KELLY


The latest technology and lessons learned from the past are being used in combination to create a new thermal oilsands project.


A joint partnership of Cenovus Energy and ConocoPhillips, the Narrows Lake project received regulatory approval earlier this year. It’s located near the partners’ Christina Lake oilsands facility near Conklin, about 160 kilometres south of Fort McMurray.


Work has begun on building a camp so workers can stay on-site, as well as erecting offi ce trailers, creating roads and other early site preparation.


The project will have many similarities to Christina Lake, with one major diff erence. A solvent aided process, called SAP, will be used to mine oil on the site, says Cenovus Energy’s Andrew Sadler, vice president, Narrows Lake.


That makes the project the fi rst large-scale commercial development to use butane as a solvent in combination with steam.


“We are going to be using SAP on a commercial scale. Butane is used to thin the oil, reducing the amount of steam that needs to be injected,” he says. “We believe it’s the next technical development from SAGD.”


Cenovus also believes the solvent aided process will reduce its steam-oil ratio by up to 30 per cent.


“To improve our environmental performance, we need to reduce the steam to oil ratio. It could be as low as 1.6, which is industry leading,” Sadler says, referring to using 1.6 barrels of water converted into steam to produce one barrel of oil.


Results from two pilot wells at Christina Lake have indicated that Cenovus can reduce gas emissions and increase total oil recovered from the reservoirs by using SAP. It is estimated that using SAP at Narrows Lake could increase production by up to 15 per cent.


Initial construction has started on the Narrows Lake project, which received regulatory approval earlier this year. Parts of it will be modeled after the Christina Lake oilsands facility near Conklin, pictured.


Photo courtesy of Cenovus Energy. 18 THE WESTERN CANADIAN PIPELINE | FALL 2012


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