Oil sand

Estimates suggest there could be as many as 1.7 trillion barrels of oil trapped in the ground in Alberta (Woynillowicz et al. 2005), more than the total oil reserve estimates discussed earlier. However, current estimates suggest that out of this, only 315 billion barrels ultimately may be recoverable, and only 174 billion barrels can be classified as reserves based on existing technology and economics. Nevertheless, this is a very large reserve. Including the oil sand reserves, Canada is second only to Saudi Arabia in reserves.  

Attempts to extract oil from the Canadian oil sands date all the way back to 1944. In recent years, interest has surged, as technology has improved and as tax breaks and incentives have made the site a good investment. By 2004, four of the five largest publicly traded oil companies had invested in Alberta oil sands, as had Chinese oil companies. Whereas early projections suggested production could reach 1.2 mbd by 2020, this goal was reached in 2004. One projection suggests Canadian production could surpass 3.5 mbd by 2008 (E E Daily 2006). 

The Pembina Institute (Woynillowicz et al. 2005) estimates that the production costs have fallen to around 13 Canadian per barrel, but this 

Campbell and Laherrere concede that there are vast quantities of unconventional oil available worldwide. In addition to the oil sands in Canada, they mention Venezuela s Orinoco oil belt, which may contain as any many as 1.2 trillion barrels of heavy oil. The rapid development of unconventional oil sites they note is not environmentally acceptable. The Orinoco sludge contains both heavy metals and sulfur that must first be removed. Nevertheless, Campbell and Laherrere do estimate as many as 700 billion barrels could be produced worldwide from unconventional resources over the next 60 years. 

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Reservoir quality maps are used to illustrate the lateral distribution of reservoir parameters such as net sand, porosity or reservoir thickness. It is important to know whether thickness values are isochore or isopach (see Figure 5.46). Isochore maps are useful if properties related to a fluid column are contoured, e.g. net oil sand. Isopach maps are used for sedimentological studies, e.g. to show the lateral thinning out of a sand body. In cases of low structural dip (<12°) isochore and isopach thickness are virtually the same. 

Keywords deterministic methods, STOllP, GllP, reserves, ultimate recovery, net oil sands, area-depth and area-thickness methods, gross rock volume, expectation curves, probability of excedence curves, uncertainty, probability of success, annual reporting requirements, Monte-Carlo simulation, parametric method... 

Net Oil Sand (NOS) = the length of the net sand column that is oil bearing. 

In some depositional environments, e.g. fluviatile channels, marked differences in reservoir thickness will be encountered. Hence the assumption of a constant thickness, or a linear trend in thickness across the field will no longer apply. In those cases a set of additional maps will be required. Usually a net oil sand (NOS) map will be prepared by the production geologist and then used to evaluate the hydrocarbon volume in place. 

Hence we need to combine the two maps to arrive at a net oil sand map (3). The odd shape is a result of that combination and actually it is easy to visualise at the fault the thickness of oil bearing sand will rapidly decrease to zero. The same is the case at the OWC. Where the net sand map indicates 0 m there will be 0 m of net oil sand. Where the channel is best developed showing maximum thickness we will encounter the maximum net oil sand thickness, but only until the channel cuts through the fault or the OWC. 

We can now planimeter the thickness of the different NOS contours, plot thickness versus area and then integrate both with the planimeter. The resulting value is the volume of net oil sand (4) and not the GRV ... 

Figure 6.3 Net oil sand mapping and area - thickness method...

The decrease in petroleum and natural gas reserves has encouraged interest in and discovery and development of unconventional sources of these hydrocarbons. Principal alternatives to conventional petroleum reserves include oil shale (qv) and tar sands (qv). Oil shale reserves in the United States are estimated at 20,000 EJ (19.4 x 10 Btu) and estimates of tar sands and oil sands reserves are on the order of 11 EJ (10 x 10 Btu) (see Tarsands Shale oil). Of particular interest are the McKittrick, EeUows, and Taft quadrangles of Cahfomia, the Asphalt Ridge area of Utah, the Asphalt, Kentucky area, and related geographic regions. 

In addition to the significant consumption of coal and lignite, petroleum, and natural gas, several countries utilize modest quantities of alternative fossil fuels. Canada obtains some of its energy from the Athabasca tar sands development (the Great Canadian Oil Sands Project). Oil shale is burned at... 

Tar Sands. Tar sands (qv) are considered to be sedimentary rocks having natural porosity where the pore volume is occupied by viscous, petroleum-like hydrocarbons. The terms oil sands, rock asphalts, asphaltic sandstones, and malthas or malthites have all been appHed to the same resource. The hydrocarbon component of tar sands is properly termed bitumen. 

Distinctions between tar sands bitumens and heavy oils are based largely on differences in viscosities. The bitumen in oil sand has a specific gravity of less than 0.986 g/mL (12°API), and thus oil sands may be regarded as a source of extremely heavy cmde oil. Whereas heavy oils might be produced by the same techniques used for the lighter cmde oils, the bitumens in tar sands are too viscous for these techniques. Consequently these oil-bearing stones have to be mined and specially processed to recover contained hydrocarbon. 

The Great Canadian Oil Sands, Ltd. (GCO) (Sun Oil Co.) has been operating a plant at Eort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, since 1967. Initially, some 8050 t/d (55,000 bbl/d) of synthetic cmde oil was produced from coking (158) with the project expanding to 9220 t/d (63,000 bbl/d). Since 1978, Syncmde Canada has been producing ca 22,000 m /d (140,000 bbl) synthetic cmde oil by fluid coking from their plant at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada (159) with expansion planned for ca 35,000 m /d (225,000 bbl/d). 

The acid content of cmde petroleum varies from 0—3%, with cmdes from California, Venezuela, Russia, and Romania having the highest content. Smaller amounts are found ia U.S. Gulf Coast cmdes, whereas Httie or no naphthenic acids are found ia Pennsylvania, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia cmdes. Typical concentrations are shown ia Table 2. Minor amounts of naphthenic acids are also found ia bituminous oil sands, but these are not economically recoverable. Identification of naphthenic acids ia water from oil-beating strata is being examined as a potential method of petroleum exploration (18). 

Petroleum refining, also called petroleum processing, is the recovery and/or generation of usable or salable fractions and products from cmde oil, either by distillation or by chemical reaction of the cmde oil constituents under the effects of heat and pressure. Synthetic cmde oil, produced from tar sand (oil sand) bitumen, and heavier oils are also used as feedstocks in some refineries. Heavy oil conversion (1), as practiced in many refineries, does not fall into the category of synthetic fuels (syncmde) production. In terms of Hquid fuels from coal and other carbonaceous feedstocks, such as oil shale (qv), the concept of a synthetic fuels industry has diminished over the past several years as being uneconomical in light of current petroleum prices. 

Includes cmde oil, shale oil, oil sands, and where known, natural gas hquids. January 1992. 

In addition to conventional petroleum (qv) and heavy cmde oil, there remains another subclass of petroleum, one that offers to provide some rehef to potential shortfalls in the future supply of Hquid fuels and other products. This subclass is the bitumen found in tar sand deposits (1,2). Tar sands, also known as oil sands and bituminous sands, are sand deposits impregnated with dense, viscous petroleum. Tar sands are found throughout the world, often in the same geographical areas as conventional petroleum. 

In a general sense, however, the term heavy oil is often appHed to a petroleum that has a gravity <20° API. The term heavy oil has also been arbitrarily used to describe both the heavy oil that requires thermal stimulation for recovery from the reservoir and the bitumen in bituminous sand (also known as tar sand or oil sand) formations, from which the heavy bituminous material is recovered by a mining operation. Extra heavy oil is the subcategory of petroleum that occurs in the near-soHd state and is incapable of free flow under ambient conditions. The bitumen from tar sand deposits is often classified as an extra heavy oil. 

Tar sand, also variously called oil sand (in Canada) or bituminous sand, is the term commonly used to describe a sandstone reservoir that is impregnated with a heavy, viscous black extra heavy cmde oil, referred to as bitumen (or, incorrectly, as native asphalt). Tar sand is a mixture of sand, water, and bitumen, but many of the tar sand deposits in the United States lack the water layer that is beHeved to cover the Athabasca sand in Alberta, Canada, thereby faciHtating the hot-water recovery process from the latter deposit. The heavy asphaltic organic material has a high viscosity under reservoir conditions and caimot be retrieved through a weU by conventional production techniques. 

Because of the diversity of available information and the continuing attempts to delineate the various world oil sands deposits, it is virtually impossible to reflect the extent of the reserves in terms of barrel units with a great degree of accuracy. The potential reserves of hydrocarbon Hquids that occur in tar sand deposits have, however, variously been estimated on a world basis to be in excess of 477 x 10 (3 x 10 bbl). Reserves that have... 

Recovery methods are based either on mining combined with some further processing or operation on the oil sands m situ (Fig. 6). The mining methods are appHcable to shallow deposits, characterized by an overburden ratio (ie, overburden depth-to-thickness of tar sand deposit) of ca 1.0. Because Athabasca tar sands have a maximum thickness of ca 90 m and average ca 45 m, there are indications that no more than 10% of the in-place deposit is mineable within 1990s concepts of the economics and technology of open-pit mining. 

One problem resulting from the hot-water process is disposal and control of the tailings. Each ton of oil sand in place has a volume of ca 0.45 m, which generates ca 0.6 m of tailings and gives a substantial volume gain. If the mine produces 200,000 t/d of oil sand, volume expansion represents a considerable soflds disposal problem. 

Health and safety factors in in situ operations are associated with high temperature, high pressure steam, or high pressure air. Environmental considerations relate to air and water quaUty and surface reclamation. In some environmentally sensitive areas such as the oil sands deposits in Utah, environmental considerations may make development unfeasible. 

The term tar sands is a misnomer tar is a product of coal processing. Oil sands is also a misnomer but equivalent to usage of "oil shale." Bituminous sands is more correct bitumen is a naturally occurring asphalt. Asphalt is a product of a refinery operation, usually made from a residuum. Residuum is the nonvolatile portion of petroleum and often further defined as atmospheric (bp > 350° C) or vacuum (bp > 565° C). For convenience, the terms "asphalt" and "bitumen" will be used interchangeably in this article. 

Asphalt (bitumen) also occurs in various oil sand (also called tar sand) deposits which occur widely scattered through the world (17) and the bitumen is available by means of various extraction technologies. A review of the properties and character of the bitumen (18) suggests that, when used as an asphaltic binder, the bitumen compares favorably with specification-grade petroleum asphalts and may have superior aging characteristics and produce more water-resistant paving mixtures than the typical petroleum asphalts. 

Covering the foundations of the tank with bitumen or a mixture of bitumen, sand and gravel ( oiled-sand ) reduces the protection current requirement considerably. Figure 12-8 shows the protection current requirement of the base of some flat-bottomed tanks. The protection current densities of tank bases 1,3 and 4 lie between 0.5 and 2 mA m. The protection current density of tank No. 2 is very much greater. 

In a short path distilling apparatus is placed 3-5 g of 1,1-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid. The flask is heated in an oil, sand, or metal bath to 160-170° until all the effervescence stops then the temperature of the bath is raised to 210°. Cyclobutanecarboxylic acid distills over at 191 -197°. It may be purified by redistillation at atmospheric pressure, bp 195-196°. 

Staub-luft, /. dust-laden air. -maske, /. dust mask, -mehl, n. (fiom) mill dust, dustings, -ol, n. fioor oil. -sand, m. very fine sand, sand dust, -sauger, m. dust suction apparatus, vacuum cleaner, -schutzmaske, /. dust mask. 

Tar sands (oil sands) are large deposits of sand saturated with bitumen and water. Tar sand deposits are commonly found at or near the earth s surface entrapped in large sedimentary basins. Large accumulations of tar sand deposits are few. About 98% of all world tar sand is found in... 

Scott AA, MD Mackinnon, PM Fedorak (2005) Naphthenic acids in Athabasca oil sands tailings water are less biodegradable than commercial naphthenic acids. Environ Sci Technol 39 8388-8394. 

MODELING OF BITUMEN OXIDATION AND CRACKING KINETICS USING DATA FROM ALBERTA OIL SANDS... 

In the laboratory of Professor R.G. Moore at the University of Calgary, kinetic data were obtained using bitumen samples of the North Bodo and Athabasca oil sands of northern Alberta. Low temperature oxidation data were taken at 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150"C whereas the high temperature thermal cracking data at 360, 397 and 420"C. 

Figures 18.13, through 18.17 show the experimental data and the calculations based on model I for the low temperature oxidation at 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150TZ of a North Bodo oil sands bitumen with a 5% oxygen gas. As seen, there is generally good agreement between the experimental data and the results obtained by the simple three pseudo-component model at all temperatures except the run at 125 TT. The only drawback of the model is that it cannot calculate the HO/LO split. The estimated parameter values for model I and N are shown in Table 18.2. The observed large standard deviations in the parameter estimates is rather typical for Arrhenius type expressions.

In Figures 18.18, 18.19 and 18.20 the experimental data and the calculations based on model I are shown for the high temperature cracking at 360, 397 and 420 T of an Athabasca oil sands bitumen (Drum 20). Similar results are seen in Figures 18.21, 18.22 and 18.23 for another Athabasca oil sands bitumen (Drum 433). The estimated parameter values for model I are shown in Table 18.3 for Drums 20 and 433. 

Figure 18.13 Experimental and calculated concentrations of Coke (COK) "A , Asphaltene (ASP) o" and Heavy Oil + Light Oil (HO+LO) "a" at 50 °C for the low temperature oxidation of North Bodo oil sands bitumen using model l.

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