Page 16 - Sphere No.31 (Jul 2012)

14 Sphere 31
once thought depleted. other steam-assisted
techniques, such as Cyclic steam stimulation
(Css), which involves using a traditional
vertical well to infuse a reservoir with steam so
that the bitumen may be pumped out several
weeks later, typically recover less than the
steam-assisted methods of horizontal drilling,
except in certain situations where Css is a
more suitable recovery method.
horizontally drilled wells, aside from
being markedly more efficient under
the right circumstances, are also more
environmentally friendly than traditional
vertical wells. “horizontal drilling is better
for the environment, because multiple
horizontal wells extending in different
directions can be drilled from a single
pad site, effectively reducing the surface
environmental footprint,” explained
Marek Bartlomowicz, technology and
Performance Manager for husky drilling
& Completions department.
In the sunrise energy Project, set to
begin oil production in 2014 when 49
pairs of parallel horizontal wells will be
used to extract the bitumen during the
first phase of bitumen recovery. steam
will be continuously pumped through
the upper of the two wells into the
bitumen reservoir. A steam chamber
will be created, heating and thinning the bitumen,
allowing gravity to pull it towards the lower well
and be pumped to the surface. sunrise has excellent
reservoir quality with an average bitumen thickness of
more than 30 metres. over the full life of the project,
husky believes it can achieve more than 40 years of
production at the currently proposed rate of 200,000
barrels per day (gross) from over 1,500 well pairs. It is
expected that the oil extracted from the sunrise energy
Project will be processed into various transportation
fuels at a husky/BP jointly owned refinery near toledo,
ohio in the United states.
At other husky sites in Canada, from the western
plains to north east British Columbia through to
Canada’s east coast, horizontal drilling is being used
to successfully develop fields where it is more efficient
and practical than vertical drilling. husky is also using
horizontal drilling in its offshore projects, such as the
husky white rose field and satellite tiebacks in Canada’s
“Although drilling a
horizontal well is more
difficult than a vertical
well…the benefits greatly
outweigh the challenges.”