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
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