Electrically heating bitumen saves cost

What if you could heat a heavy oil zone directly with electricity? Brings visions of just hooking into the electrical grid and saving a lot of capital cost.

The applicant of a electrical heating scheme proposed heating the reservoir to 300°C. He proposed using leads strung down the well to get the heating elements to depth. He proposed heating water in-situ and might try heating diluent down there as well.

His application includes the technology changes that allow these temperatures and his energy sourcing plans. Help yourself to his application documents through our secure checkout.

This application was submitted by a former employee of the regulator. But most employees only know their small portion of the approval process. He wasn't prepared for the scrutiny the regulator gave this application.

Unfortunately, his application took almost three years for approval. But looking at his Supplemental Information Requests (SIRs) is a great education in how the regulator reviews new experiments like this one.

When you're trying to get this type of new technology approved, you don't need to wander into the application alone. There are many precedents for getting experimental applications approved. Reading a few previously approved experimental schemes can save you headaches and a lot of time. By reading those precedents, you can discover which issues are important to the regulator.

During the approval process, the regulator approved a confidential period on production and injection volumes, but you can see the whole application and what they intended if you review the application documents -- they're not confidential.

Tags: Thermal, Heavy Oil

  22 Aug 2016

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