Company News
Blog: Laricina Energy Receives Go-Ahead for Germain Commercial Demonstration Solvent-Cyclic SAGD Project
October 19, 2010Laricina is pleased to announce it has received Order in Council approval from the Alberta Government for its Germain 5,000-barrel-per-day Commercial Demonstration solvent-cyclic steam-assisted gravity drainage (SC-SAGD) project.
Germain is located within the West Athabasca oil sands region and lies approximately 130 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Germain Project consists of the 5,000 barrel-per-day Commercial Demonstration phase followed by a series of expansions to ultimate capacity of more than 200,000 gross barrels per day. The Germain Project has a long reserve life in excess of 25 years within two prospective reservoirs: the Grand Rapids Formation, a Cretaceous sand, and the Devonian Winterburn Group, a carbonate. The Germain Project is estimated to contain 1.7 billion barrels of gross recoverable resources (1) based on the report of independent reservoir evaluators GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. (GLJ Report) dated March 1, 2010.
With regulatory approvals in place for the Commercial Demonstration project, Laricina will begin clearing of the plant site and SAGD Horizontal well pad area, commence detailed engineering, order long-lead equipment and prepare for construction in the first quarter of 2011. Drilling of observation and water source and disposal wells will begin this winter followed by the initial horizontal wells over the summer and fall of 2011. Plant construction will continue through to the first quarter of 2012 with first steam expected to occur in the second half of 2012.
The original 1,800 barrel-per-day SAGD pilot was approved by the ERCB and Alberta Environment in October 2009. The amendment, filed November 18, 2009, will increase bitumen production to 5,000 barrels per day and reflects several improvements over the original design. Notably, the Commercial Demonstration project incorporates solvent injection, diluent treating and water recycling. These modifications are expected to result in a lower steam to oil ratio, lower water usage, and lower carbon emissions per barrel of bitumen produced by thermal processes alone.