Canada: a potential "global" supplier of hydrocarbons
April 19, 2012 enerzine
The Canadian province of Alberta currently ranks 3rd in the world in terms of oil reserves; Alcimed, the consulting and decision-making company, looks back at the production of oil from tar sands in Canada.
Bituminous sand is a mixture of raw bitumen, sand, mineral clay and water, the appearance of which is almost solid in its natural state. To recover the hydrocarbon, the operator must liquefy the bitumen trapped in the rock, by heating it. Then, it refines the bitumen (upgrading) to obtain a synthetic crude oil which will then be marketable.
In 2010, Alberta's oil reserves stood at 170 billion barrels, or 96% of Canada's reserves and 12% of the world's reserves, which places the region in third place, behind Saudi Arabia (260 billion barrels) and Venezuela (210 billion barrels). Of Alberta's 170 billion barrels of reserves, more than 99% are oil sands reserves1.
According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, the development of the oil sands would require investments in excess of US $ 250 billion by 2030 and create 800 jobs over the same period.
One of the major challenges of exploiting the “in situ” or “exsitu” oil sands is the environmental impact.
80% of these reserves are estimated to be recoverable by so-called "in-situ" methods against 20% of recoverable by "ex-situ" methods.
“Ex-situ” extraction: the operator shaves the forest to be able to dig an open pit and collect the sand, which is then brought into bitumen extraction factories. At the end of 2011, 663 km2 of land was affected by “ex-situ” oil sands extraction activities, or approximately 1,75% of the northern forests of Alberta. This technique is very widely controversial today, both inside the country (degradation of the landscape and fauna, pollution etc.) and outside. On February 23, the European Commission put to a vote a bill which must indicate that oil produced from oil sands is more polluting than all other forms of oil: according to the bill, oil production at starting from bituminous sand produces 107 grams of carbon per megajoule, which is significantly more than the 87,5 grams commonly accepted for conventional oil2.
“In-situ” extraction is used to exploit deposits buried deeper and whose mining extraction would not be economically profitable: it makes it possible to separate the sand from the bitumen directly in the reservoir. The injection of water vapor (at about 300 ° C) at high pressure (100 bar) 3 causes a decrease in the viscosity of the bitumen, which can then be more easily pumped.
Two techniques can be used: CSS (Cyclic Steam Stimulation) using the same well to alternate steam injection and bitumen recovery, or SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) exploiting horizontal wells associated in pairs - the top well injects steam while the well below collects water and bitumen.
A major issue: the environmental impact
These techniques both consume very large volumes of water, in a region where there are already tensions around this resource. According to the Canadian government, 7,5 to 10 barrels of water are required to produce 1 barrel of bitumen in an "ex-situ" type of extraction, and 2,5 to 4 barrels are necessary in the case of an extraction in-situ.
Today, the industry is looking for cleaner, more water-efficient technologies. Progress has been made: the use of water resources for surface mining operations continues to decrease while the production of oil sands through this process is increasing. In parallel, many “in-situ” projects recycle up to 90% of the water used in their operations, or even 95% with evaporation techniques like that of General Electric.
In addition, the industry tends to use water from deep aquifers, unfit for direct consumption, as soon as possible, rather than surface water. Thus, if the Government of Alberta is to be believed, by having a recycling rate of 40 to 70% for the "ex-situ" technique and a rate of 70 to 90% for the "in-situ" technique, only 3 to 4,5 barrels of water and 0,5 barrels of water respectively will be required to produce a barrel of bitumen4.
To reduce the water consumption of SAGD, the technique most used today, a new process has been developed: SAGD-ES. This technique includes in the injection of steam the addition of a solvent (mixture of light hydrocarbons), which reduces the need for steam and increases recovery. This process is more expensive than traditional SAGD and a fall in oil prices would lead to the end of this type of exploitation5.
Canada chooses to look to China to acquire new customers for its oil sands.
Today, the only importers of oil from the oil sands are the United States. This energy resource is expected to become the primary source of oil imports from the United States in 2012, at the same level as the cumulative imports from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and exceeding imports from Canadian conventional oil 6.
"In fact, in 2010, Canada exported about 2 million barrels of oil per day to the United States, including 1,4 million from Alberta. The tar sands have therefore enabled the United States to meet 7% of their oil needs7, ”explains Cécile Marion, Consultant in the Energy & Environment activity of Alcimed.
Looking for new customers in the West ...
Thanks to the oil sands, Canada hopes to become a global supplier of oil and reduce its dependence on the United States, all the more since the latter rejected the construction of a pipeline between Alberta and the United States. Texas coast last January 8. On the other hand, given the European Commission's disapproving attitude to the exploitation of the oil sands, it is unlikely that the construction of a long oil pipeline from Alberta to the east coast of Canada will be profitable (in export to Europe).
On the other hand, building an oil pipeline from Alberta to the west coast to export energy to China seems more attractive. Chinese investors are attracted to the Canadian oil sands to the point of having invested more than $ 15 billion in 18 months (2010-2011). Most recent investments have been made by Chinese companies buying shares in existing projects, such as the $ 2,1 billion invested by CNOOC in the Long Lake project in Alberta9 in November 2011.
“In fact, for China, Canada represents an interesting alternative to the countries in conflict from which it obtains its supplies today, such as Iran, Sudan or Iraq. Canada is politically stable, and relatively close geographically. Discussions are underway: the Canadian Prime Minister spent four days in China at the beginning of February, accompanied by Shell Canada, Enbridge and Canadian Oil Sands, to discuss a potential partnership ”concludes Jean-Philippe Tridant Bel, Head of the activity Energy & Environment of Alcimed.
1 Government of Alberta: HERE
2 Reuters: HERE
3 “An Introduction to Development in Alberta's Oil Sands”, University of Alberta
4 Note: HERE
5 CNRS: HERE
6 NY-Times: HERE
7 http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/OilSands/791.asp
8 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16621398
9 http://www.chron.com/business/article/C ... 176114.php
http://www.enerzine.com/10/13845+canada ... ures+.html
