Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology
Volume 49, Number 11, November 2010, pp. 12-21

Canada's oil sands are well recognized internationally, with Alberta's mined and in-situ oil sands reservoirs being well developed with mature commercial technologies. The next frontier in Canadian petroleum development will be the shallow in-situ oil sands residing in both Saskatchewan and Alberta. Presenting opportunities and challenges that are distinct from the mining and deeper in-situ reservoir situations, the shallow reservoirs will probably need to be developed with new "game-changer" in-situ technologies that will reduce and/or replace the use of steam and fresh water, and dramatically reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO₂. Significant research and development programs are now aimed at developing and demonstrating such new technologies. Piloting new shallow in-situ development technologies for Saskatchewan's oil sands deposits will enable a new source of Canadian "technology oil" and serve to test more environmentally friendly technologies that could be adapted to current commercial operations. This paper provides a detailed description of the oil sands geology and physical properties as well as highlighting Saskatchewan's oil sands and some of the novel recovery technologies that are being developed for shallow in-situ reservoirs.

© 2010. Society of Petroleum Engineers

View full textPDF ( 755 KB )

History

• Original manuscript received: 28 March 2009
• Meeting paper published: 17 June 2009
• Revised manuscript received: 15 September 2010
• Manuscript approved: 16 September 2010
• Published online: 1 November 2010
• Version of record: 1 November 2010