Cold Lake deposit

Most heavy oil production is concentrated in California, Canada, and Venezuela. There is significant production of heavy oil in California from the Kern River field near Bakersfield and in Canada from the Cold Lake deposit in Alberta. Production generally involves steam drives, or the injection of steam into reservoirs through special wells in prescribed sequences. Oil—water mixtures are recovered, and often separated water is treated and reinjected. 

The BP project in the Cold Lake deposit is now completed and operations just, underway. Construction is progressing on the Shell Oil project and is expected to be completed in mid 1979. Initial field I. sts have been coiipleted on the NUR v project and I suits are being assessed in order to determine the further course of action. 

Sulfur compounds in the gas oil fractions from two bitumens (Athabasca oil sand and Cold Lake deposit)> a heavy oil (Lloydminster) from Cretaceous reservoirs along the western Canada sedimentary basin, and a Cretaceous oil from a deep reservoir that may be mature (Medicine River) are investigated. The gas oil distillates were separated to concentrates of different hydrocarbon types on a liquid adsorption chromatographic column. The aromatic hydrocarbon types with their associated sulfur compounds were resolved by gas chromatographic simulated distillation and then by gas solid chromatography. Some sulfur compounds were further characterized by mass spectrometry. The predominant sulfur compounds in these fractions are alkyl-substituted benzo- and dibenzothiophenes with short side chains which have few dominant isomers. 

The Athabasca deposit, along with the neighboring Wabasca, Peace River, and Cold Lake heavy oil deposits, have together been estimated to contain 1.86 X 10 m (>1.17 X 10 bbl) of bitumen. The Vene2uelan deposits may at least contain >1.60 X 10 m (1.0 X 10 bbl) bitumen (2). Deposits of tar sand, each containing >3 x 10 m (20 x 10 bbl) of bitumen, have also been located in the United States, Albania, Italy, Madagascar,... 

Canada s bitumen resources are situated almost entirely within the western province of Alberta (see Fig. 3.13). These deposits are distributed among three regions Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River. Approximately 76% of crude bitumen is produced in the Athabasca region, 22% in the Cold Lake region and 2% in the Peace River region. 

The other major deposit is Cold Lake with... 

Fig. 1. Location of major tar (oil) sand deposits in Alberta, Canada (1) Athabasca, (2) Cold Lake, (3) Wabasca, and (4) Peace River, N.W.T. (Northwest Territories)...

Tn this work the sulfur compounds in the gas oil of three Cretaceous - heavy oils from the edge of the Alberta sedimentary basin were investigated. These crude oils were obtained from the Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Lloydminster deposits and are believed (I) to belong to the same oil system which implies like modes of origin. The geographic location of these deposits is shown in Figure 1. This investigation was conducted to develop the analytical capability used to follow the maturation of the sulfur compounds in these oils (2). 

Fig. 27.1 The oil sands of Alberta, Canada. The three areas - Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River - comprise the largest oil-sand deposits in the world. The amounts of recoverable oil in the deposits place Canada second only to Saudi Arabia in reserves. (Cartography by Barbara Trapido-Lurie, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University)...

Deposits are found in Northern Alberta, at Athabasca (near Fort McMurray, includes Wabasca deposits). Cold Lake (NE of Edmonton), and Peace River (NE of Grand Prairie). The massive proven reserves of the oil sands are 175 billion barrels, with potential reserves exceeding 310 billion barrels. Among proven reserves, the oil sands are only third to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. 

Lake Superior is by far the largest, deepest, and coldest of the five lakes. This lake has a water retention time of almost 200 years. There is little agriculture in Lake Superior s basin (largely because of the poor soils and cold climate) instead most of the basin is forested. The sparse human population around Lake Superior results in relatively little pollution entering the lake as a result of local human activity, but because of its large surface area and its small drainage area, large amounts of pollutants are delivered by deposition from the atmosphere. 

A labile phase of iron disulphide occurs in nature under the name melnikovite It is a black, finely divided substance which impregnates certain miocene clays in Russia, and differs in many respects from the black hydrated sulphide of iron usually found in black muds of lakes. In composition it corresponds to the formula FeS2. It is magnetic, and its true density is probably 4 2 to 4 3. Cold, dilute hydrochloric acid readily attacks it, evolving hydrogen sulphide. It has probably been derived from a colloidal deposit of an iron sulphide.3... 

Perkins S (2006) Cold and deep Antarctica s Lake Vostok has two big neighbors. Science News 169 (Februtuy 4) 69-70 Peikins, S (2008) Down with caibon. Science News, May 10 18-23 Peterson JA, Moresby IF (1979) Subgladal travertine tmd associated deposits in the Qrtstensz area, Irian Jaya, Republic of Indonesia Zeitschrift fur Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie 15 23-29 Petit JR, Briat M, Royer A (1981) Ice age aerosol content from East Antarctic ice core samples tmd past wind strength. Nature 293 391-394... 

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