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The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) announced today that it has reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with INCAS³ – a not-for-profit independent research institute based in the Netherlands that specializes in advancing sensor technologies, leading to improvements in monitoring and modeling across a wide spectrum of industries. INCAS³’s work and expertise could have significant implications for the characterizing of oil reservoirs and other geological formations of critical importance to Saskatchewan’s, and Canada’s, oil and gas industry.
Both the PTRC and INCAS³ – as not for profit organizations focused on research, development and deployment of new technologies – are pleased to have found common ground for advancing science and innovation. With over 13 years managing and conducting research into better enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods, the PTRC has a track record of identifying and fostering the development of technologies that could help improve recovery rates.
Networking with INCAS³ offers unique synergies – through the application of sensor systems to help model and measure the structures of Canada’s oil reservoirs – that may help identify where problems exist within those reservoirs and how best to optimize existing recovery methods such as cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS).
“Recovery from existing heavy oil fields in Saskatchewan averages only about 5-8%,” noted Malcolm Wilson, the CEO of the PTRC. “If we can better characterize these reservoirs, and pinpoint where problems are occurring within them, then we can tailor existing recovery methods to push that rate up to 15 or 20%, ideally. That means a lot more money into the economy, and possibly more energy efficient processes for getting hydrocarbons out of the ground.”
One of the biggest obstacles in heavy oil production, particularly in the fields that exist along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, is the production of sand that comes up with the oil, leading to the creation of what are referred to in the industry as “wormholes”. These spaces within the reservoir affect production rates, often interfering with the flow of oil out of the reservoir, and are particularly problematic because it is almost impossible to identify their location and shape. Technologies to help identify and overcome wormholes could significantly increase the rate of return from heavy oil reservoirs – from a current average of 8% to as high as 20% – resulting in billions of dollars in additional revenues for governments.
“We believe that INCAS³ has the cognitive sensor systems, and is developing sensor nodes and advanced controls that could be extremely useful in helping to identify wormholes. Being a world leader in the development of these sorts of sensors may make INCAS³’s extensive network of scientists an important resource for our own researchers.”
John Van Pol, Managing Director of INCAS³, noted that bringing together the PTRC’s EOR and INCAS³ researchers at a workshop to determine a roadmap for solving “wormhole” challenges will be an important first step.
“We plan to help organize a workshop on the measurement and structure of western Canada’s oil reservoirs. The goal will be to outline a possible roadmap for solving the appearance and monitoring of wormholes during cold heavy oil production with sand, and then initiate the execution of that roadmap.”
Both the PTRC and INCAS³ hope the networking opportunities developed through this MOU – and the workshop being planned this November 3-4 in the Netherlands – will contribute towards a wormhole research component within the PTRC’s Sustainable Technologies for Energy Production Systems (or STEPS) enhanced oil recovery research program. STEPS is a Business-Led Network of Centres of Excellence established in 2009 with funding from the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan, with additional sponsorship from the private sector, to help advance oil recovery in Canada.
About the PTRC
The PTRC is a not-for-profit research and development company founded in 1998 that directs world-leading scientific and engineering research into hydrocarbon energy production and carbon storage. Located in Regina Saskatchewan, the PTRC uses R&D to advance and support the recovery of western Canada’s rich but often difficult to access and monetize oil resources. Its Business-Led Network of Centres of Excellence in enhanced oil recovery (STEPS network) is expanding its research from heavy oil to conventional oil and extra-heavy resources like oil sands. STEPS aims to become the national focus for leading-edge scientific research and engineering development of oil recovery methods.