Good news Pike Project Gets Provincial Go-Ahead NOV. 3, 2014 – VIEW ISSUE The Alberta government has given its approval for Pike, a SAGD oilsands project shared 50-50 between Devon Canada Corporation and BP plc (DOB, June 27, 2012). Total bitumen production capacity for Phase 1 of the project facility will be up to 109,000 bbls per day of bitumen, with nominal production expected to be 105,000 bbls per day, the application said. The proposed project is now in the hands of the Alberta Energy Regulator for final approval, which Devon expects to receive soon, said Nadine Barber, Devon spokesperson. The project will be built in a phased approach, with first steam expected at the end of 2018, said Barber. She said Devon will continue to work on Pike’s detailed engineering design based on the technology used at its other oilsands project, Jackfish. Completion of the front-end engineering design, capital budget and a work plan are expected in the fourth quarter of 2015. She declined to provide a cost estimate. “We’ve not released a capital number, nor will we,” she said. At the time of the application, the company pegged the total capital cost at $7.63 billon, with well pads and pipelines to cost $4.67 billion and the central processing facility (CPF) pegged at $2.96 billion. This winter, Devon will conduct more delineation, the fourth year it has done so, said Barber. She couldn’t say how large the first phase might be. “There is still some work to be done as it relates to the phased approach so … (I) can’t give you any details at this point in time about what that might look like….” The company’s application said the CPF will consist of three phases, with each phase designed to produce up to an incremental 36,334 bbls per day. The Pike 1 project consists of three major components: well pads, a CPF, and offsite facilities that connect the pads and the CPF. According to the project’s application, Devon estimates that up to 61 surface well pads and 610 well pairs will be required over the life of the project. Initially, four to six well pads will be available per CPF phase. About 330 hectares will be required for the pads during the 25- to 30-year life of the project. Well pads will consist of seven to 10 well. At the CPF, steam will be generated using recycled produced water and saline makeup water supplied from the Grand Rapids C formation and McMurray formation. Water that is no longer suitable for recycle will be disposed of via injection wells into the Basal McMurray formation. The source water and disposal water will be pipelined to and from the plant site via underground pipelines using common infrastructure where practicable. The application says the CPF will be constructed in three phases. Seven 72-megawatt (245-mmBtu per hour) steam generators per phase, for a total of 21 units, will produce high-pressure steam at 78 per cent quality. Devon defines the geological interval termed caprock as an effective regional seal, or barrier, to vertical steam migration into overlying formations. Devon’s experience and modeling indicates that a mudstone-shale bed thickness greater than two metres can be an effective steam barrier, and has mapped both the regional Clearwater-Wabiskaw caprock and McMurray steam barrier intervals for the project. To prevent loss of pressure and the subsequent collapse of the steam chamber by either slow leakoff or failure, Devon indicated it has evaluated the competency of the regional caprock interval in the project area through minifrac and geomechanical testing. The total footprint for the planned project is approximately 1,150 hectares. The application says competition for skilled labour during project construction and operations will be a management challenge for Devon and the other oilsands developers in the region. However, it says, Devon is confident of being able to effectively compete for the skilled labour needed during construction and operations phases of the project through the provision of competitive wages and benefits, application of best practices for attracting and retaining workers, and implementation of management measures. Devon said it intends to use Highway 881 and Sunday Creek Road for access to the project, so it does not expect cumulative effects on Highway 63 from the project during construction and operations. ARTICLE SECTION: PRODUCER NEWS
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 17:10:01 +0000
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