Here are some more videos about our good old oil sands. Here is an excellent series produced by Shell Canada about the oil sands.
There are a ton of other videos online about the oil sands. I encourage you to explore these yourself.
Friday 17 June 2011
An overview of the oil sands
Here is a documentary from 60 Minutes on the Alberta oil sands. Something I hadn't realized before watching this - the Alberta oil sands are the second largest reservoir of crude in the world (and that is just based on what can be extracted using today's technology). Estimates run as high as 2 TRILLION barrels - that is 8 TIMES the amount of oil in Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that in a few short years, the oil coming from the Alberta oil sands will be more important to the USA than ALL of the oil coming from Saudi Arabia.
Edmonton's Industrial Rental Market Is Ramping Up ....
.... and you can bet Redwater isn't going to be far behind.
Edmonton doesn’t have a lot of major corporate head offices, but the city punches far above its weight in other areas. At seven times the size of the city’s downtown office market, Edmonton’s industrial real estate commands the highest average rental rates in Canada.
Photograph by: Larry Wong, file, edmontonjournal.com
EDMONTON - Edmonton doesn’t have a lot of major corporate head offices, but the city punches far above its weight in other areas.
At seven times the size of the city’s downtown office market, Edmonton’s industrial real estate commands the highest average rental rates in Canada.
Now, with oilsands activity heating up, Edmonton’s industrial market is powering ahead, says Vince Lachance, co-owner of SCR Commercial Realty.
“Last (summer) there wasn’t a lot going on, and in our view that was the bottom of the market on the commercial and industrial side,” says Lachance, who previously owned Edmonton’s Century Hospitality Group, operator of the Century Grill and LUX, a downtown hotspot.
“But by November-December we started to see a real uptick and that has continued. So there’s a real solid level of activity now,” he says.
“I had a call (recently) from a large investor out of Toronto and they were looking for industrial properties of between 10 and 50 acres — preferably serviced, so there could be activity there within the next two to three years,” he adds.
“As we see the upgraders develop as well as more secondary, value-added manufacturing, those are the (tenants) that will require the two or four-acre sites and the 20,000-square-foot warehouses. So it’s looking pretty solid.”
Lachance doesn’t expect this up cycle to flame out like the last one. He believes this is the start of anextended period of growth.
“We think there’s going to be steady growth over the next eight, 10 or 12 years in this region. Hopefully people learned from some of the mistakes made in the last go round,” he says.
“China has already spent about$2 billion here over the last 18 months and there’s been a pretty significant consolidation in the industry, with (France’s) Total partnering up with Suncor.
“So it’s more organized, and companies aren’t going to rush out and build on spec. It will be more disciplined.”
At seven times the size of the city’s downtown office market, Edmonton’s industrial real estate commands the highest average rental rates in Canada.
Now, with oilsands activity heating up, Edmonton’s industrial market is powering ahead, says Vince Lachance, co-owner of SCR Commercial Realty.
“Last (summer) there wasn’t a lot going on, and in our view that was the bottom of the market on the commercial and industrial side,” says Lachance, who previously owned Edmonton’s Century Hospitality Group, operator of the Century Grill and LUX, a downtown hotspot.
“But by November-December we started to see a real uptick and that has continued. So there’s a real solid level of activity now,” he says.
“I had a call (recently) from a large investor out of Toronto and they were looking for industrial properties of between 10 and 50 acres — preferably serviced, so there could be activity there within the next two to three years,” he adds.
“As we see the upgraders develop as well as more secondary, value-added manufacturing, those are the (tenants) that will require the two or four-acre sites and the 20,000-square-foot warehouses. So it’s looking pretty solid.”
Lachance doesn’t expect this up cycle to flame out like the last one. He believes this is the start of anextended period of growth.
“We think there’s going to be steady growth over the next eight, 10 or 12 years in this region. Hopefully people learned from some of the mistakes made in the last go round,” he says.
“China has already spent about$2 billion here over the last 18 months and there’s been a pretty significant consolidation in the industry, with (France’s) Total partnering up with Suncor.
“So it’s more organized, and companies aren’t going to rush out and build on spec. It will be more disciplined.”
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Shell Upgrader - 100,000 bpd expansion goes online
Another upgrader in the area which has also been in the headlines is, of course, the Shell upgrader. In the below article from The Edmonton Journal, Shell announces the successful commissioning and startup of its 100,000 barrel/day expansion.
Shell Oilsands Upgrader Goes On-stream
Massive Scotford expansion dwarfed other construction projects nationwide
By Journal Business Staff, edmontonjournal.com ay 4, 2011
The Shell Scotford upgrader is shown northeast of Edmonton on May 29, 2010.
Photograph by: Bruce Edwards, edmontonjournal.com
EDMONTON - After five years of work and a cost of around $10 billion, Shell’s Scotford Upgrader Expansion has successfully started production.
Shell announced Wednesday the 100,000-barrels-per-day expansion, which will bring total production to 255,000 bpd, is now in commercial production following months of tests and trial runs of the plant.
“This startup is an important milestone for our heavy oil business,” said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director said in a statement.
“And it adds new capacity from an important source of oil in a world requiring more secure energy.”
The Scotford Upgrader processes oilsands bitumen from the Muskeg River Mine and Jackpine Mine for use in refined oil products. And with production capacity at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) joint-venture now at 255,000 barrels-per-day, engineers will focus on improving operating efficiencies and adding capacity through debottlenecking.
Shell said engineering for the expansion was done in offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Houston, New Delhi and Shanghai.
At peak construction, more than 10,000 skilled trades on-site, making Scotford the largest construction project in Canada.
Apprentices made up 30 per cent of the workforce, and about 45,000 people were trained and worked on the site for periods during the construction.
The Scotford project needed 18,000 piles driven 20 metres into the ground to support the massive facility.
About 65,000 tonnes of structural concrete were poured, and 17 tanks capable of holding 270 million litres of liquid were erected.
There are five reactors in the Residue Hydro Conversion (RHC) unit, and each was 16 storeys tall, weighed 1,100 tonnes and were nine inches thick. About 16,000 metric tonnes of structural steel were used, and 546 modules were fabricated for the project.
Shell Canada Energy is the 60-per-cent owner and operator of AOSP, along with Chevron Canada Limited (20 per cent) and Marathon Oil Corporation (20 per cent). The AOSP includes the Muskeg River Mine, Jackpine Mine and Scotford Upgrader.
dcooper@edmontonjournal.com
Shell announced Wednesday the 100,000-barrels-per-day expansion, which will bring total production to 255,000 bpd, is now in commercial production following months of tests and trial runs of the plant.
“This startup is an important milestone for our heavy oil business,” said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director said in a statement.
“And it adds new capacity from an important source of oil in a world requiring more secure energy.”
The Scotford Upgrader processes oilsands bitumen from the Muskeg River Mine and Jackpine Mine for use in refined oil products. And with production capacity at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) joint-venture now at 255,000 barrels-per-day, engineers will focus on improving operating efficiencies and adding capacity through debottlenecking.
Shell said engineering for the expansion was done in offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Houston, New Delhi and Shanghai.
At peak construction, more than 10,000 skilled trades on-site, making Scotford the largest construction project in Canada.
Apprentices made up 30 per cent of the workforce, and about 45,000 people were trained and worked on the site for periods during the construction.
The Scotford project needed 18,000 piles driven 20 metres into the ground to support the massive facility.
About 65,000 tonnes of structural concrete were poured, and 17 tanks capable of holding 270 million litres of liquid were erected.
There are five reactors in the Residue Hydro Conversion (RHC) unit, and each was 16 storeys tall, weighed 1,100 tonnes and were nine inches thick. About 16,000 metric tonnes of structural steel were used, and 546 modules were fabricated for the project.
Shell Canada Energy is the 60-per-cent owner and operator of AOSP, along with Chevron Canada Limited (20 per cent) and Marathon Oil Corporation (20 per cent). The AOSP includes the Muskeg River Mine, Jackpine Mine and Scotford Upgrader.
dcooper@edmontonjournal.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
More on CSS
CSS sounds like a fantastic technology - greenhouse gas reductions, meeting climate change goals and enabling enhanced oil recovery. Below is a video with more detail on how the whole process works.
CSS is recognized as a safe and effective method to reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. Endorsement for this technology have come from numerous organizations, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency.
CSS is recognized as a safe and effective method to reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. Endorsement for this technology have come from numerous organizations, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is something you have likely read in the posts that we have made on here. In this post, we talk more about what it is and the role it plays in the oil sands development.
Enhance Energy is currently building the world's largest carbon capture and storage project - the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL). Needless to say, the ACTL will result in immediate job creation, the revitalization of the oil and gas industry and the provision of a CO2 management solution for Alberta's industrial development.
CSS is the separation and capture of CO2 from the atmospheric emissions of industrial processes and the transport and permanent storage of the CO2 in deep underground rock formations. It is a powerful tool for combating climate change. Here is a diagram depicting a typical CO2 storage scenario using the CCS model.
The ACTL pipeline will stretch 240km and will be capable of gathering, compressing and storing up to 14.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year at full capacity. Additionally, the stored CO2 will be injected into depleted oil reservoirs and result in the recovery of over 1 billion barrels of oil. The pipeline will begin in the Redwater area and move south through the province past Edmonton and all the way down to Lacombe.
Enhance Energy is currently building the world's largest carbon capture and storage project - the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL). Needless to say, the ACTL will result in immediate job creation, the revitalization of the oil and gas industry and the provision of a CO2 management solution for Alberta's industrial development.
CSS is the separation and capture of CO2 from the atmospheric emissions of industrial processes and the transport and permanent storage of the CO2 in deep underground rock formations. It is a powerful tool for combating climate change. Here is a diagram depicting a typical CO2 storage scenario using the CCS model.
The ACTL pipeline will stretch 240km and will be capable of gathering, compressing and storing up to 14.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year at full capacity. Additionally, the stored CO2 will be injected into depleted oil reservoirs and result in the recovery of over 1 billion barrels of oil. The pipeline will begin in the Redwater area and move south through the province past Edmonton and all the way down to Lacombe.
What is bitumen?
Thus far, we have talked about the financial and social ramifications of the upgrader projects - how many jobs they will create, what is the project timeline, how much capital is required. But we haven't really learned about what exactly bitumen is and why it is so important to us.
Bitumen is a mixture of organic liquids that are highly viscous, black, sticky, entirely soluble in carbon disulfide and composed primarily of highly condensed polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Naturally occurring or crude bitumen is a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum that is so thick and heavy that it has to be heated or diluted before it will flow.
Here are a couple of simple diagrams showing us the common uses of petroleum in our households and what the typical by-products of bitumen are.
Next, we have an intriguing video describing the bitumen production process. Thanks to CNRL for the great video.
Bitumen is a mixture of organic liquids that are highly viscous, black, sticky, entirely soluble in carbon disulfide and composed primarily of highly condensed polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Naturally occurring or crude bitumen is a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum that is so thick and heavy that it has to be heated or diluted before it will flow.
Here are a couple of simple diagrams showing us the common uses of petroleum in our households and what the typical by-products of bitumen are.
Next, we have an intriguing video describing the bitumen production process. Thanks to CNRL for the great video.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)