New method might reduce water used in oilsands

With public concern over the environment constantly growing, oil exploration companies are moving towards greener ways of doing business.

Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is one of two extraction practices (the other being open pit mining) currently used in the Alberta oil sands. By heating bitumen - the thick oil sand crude - it becomes fluid enough to extract. This process uses massive amounts of water and emits harmful emissions from the burning of natural gas to heat the water.

According to Brian Pratt, a geology professor at the University of Saskatchewan, "cooking the oil out" is often not worth the economical and environmental baggage that comes with it.

"Do you really want to use it all up (burning mass amounts of natural gas) for a fairly low quality crude that you are going to export to the U.S,?" he said.

He also noted that there is a serious lack of published geology on exactly what the sediments are like in northern Saskatchewan, saying he hasn't seen a "single publication or shallow-seismic," and in his experience, isn't sure how with current technology, some open surface mining can be avoided.

At the same time, he said he believes oilsand extraction can be done with minimal environmental impact, make economic sense for oil companies and produce money and jobs for the entire province. Pratt was also a full-time petroleum geologist in the oil and gas industry in the 1980s.

Kyle Worth, a project manager with the Petroleum Technology Research Centre in Regina, is working on a possible solution. It's called the Joint Implementation of Vapour Extraction, or JIVE.

Instead of using water and heat, a solvent, such as butane or propane, is injected into the sludgy oil, causing its fluidity to increase. Extraction is made much easier.

Three pilot projects using JIVE technology are currently underway near Lloydminster, where the oil is classified as heavy, but easier to extract than northern bitumen.

Worth claims that if JIVE is determined as economically viable, it could save 400 million barrels of fresh water, and stop 85 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

"Injecting propane and butane into the well produces more oil," said Worth. "Making the variables right to actually make money is what we are working on."

Making money is the biggest problem right now for Worth's technology. Being able to retain as much solvent as possible is key, because whatever is lost needs to be replaced, which costs money.

Roy Schneider, a spokesman for the Ministry of Energy and Resources, said the ministry is "cautiously optimistic" environmentally responsible oilsand development will occur in the near future, although what type of science will be used is still unknown.

jpage@paherald.sk.ca